Lead was discovered in Madison County north of Fredericktown in 1720, years before the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, and the Mine La Motte was one of several in the area — it produced more than 325,000 tons of lead metal by the time it closed in 1959, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
+9 The Lion’s Club rodeo grounds near the Fredericktown airport sit on that section of the Superfund site.
The highest concentration detected at the site was 2,353 parts per million, beneath a section of bleachers.
All properties with concentrations greater than 400 parts per million are eligible for cleanup in Madison County, according to the EPA.
In the past, residential properties with lead concentrations above 1,200 parts per million were targeted.
+9 Lead is a neurotoxin that interrupts normal brain development and has been linked to behavioral problems and learning disabilities in children.
Adults can tolerate higher lead levels than children but also can suffer health problems.
The EPA is in its second year of a three-year contract to remediate 500 properties, which largely should complete residential clean-ups in the county, said Kurt Limesand, the EPA’s remedial project manager for the Madison County Mines Superfund site.
The county has been home to more than 1,000 lead and barite mining, milling or smelting sites.
It’s part of the Madison County Mines Superfund site.