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10/8/2020 Federal Register::National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan:Partial Deletion of the California Gulch Superfund... <br /> Once a hotbed of transportation activities mostly related to mining,the Poverty Flats rail yard,located <br /> between 12th Street,Highway 24,i7th Street and County Road 8,is now vacant.The portion of the Poverty <br /> Flats rail yard formerly owned by D&RGW is located near the north end of the City of Leadville,encompasses <br /> an area of roughly 43 acres,and is crossed by abandoned rail lines and access roads.Slag,which was used in <br /> the rail yard as ballast and as a road base to provide support for heavy vehicle traffic,was also deposited <br /> around the loading dock due to spillage during transportation activities. <br /> The rail easement includes the portion of railroad track that runs diagonally through Leadville and consists <br /> of approximately 25 feet on either side of the track centerline.Slag was used as a road base to provide <br /> support for heavy vehicle traffic.Slag was also deposited as spillage from passing rail cars. <br /> D&RGW identified a small volume of fine slag in the Poverty Flats rail yard.D&RGW prepared a plan,which <br /> addressed removal of the fine slag from this area to the AV Smelter Slag Pile.As a result of the Union Pacific <br /> Railroad Company(UPRR)purchase of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company(surviving corporation <br /> from an earlier merger of D&RGW and Southern Pacific Railroad),UPRR took ownership of all D&RGW <br /> property at the Site in 1996 and assumed D&RGW's responsibilities under the 1993 D&RGW CD. <br /> During the summer and fall of 1997,UPRR removed 1,264 cubic yards of slag,including fine slag,from the <br /> rail yard and placed it onto the AV Slag Pile.As a result,soils were exposed containing elevated <br /> concentrations of lead.Soils samples,taken before and after removal of the slag,showed levels of lead in soil <br /> that exceed the Site-wide residential action level of 8500 mg/kg lead,thus lead in the soils on this property <br /> may create the potential for unacceptable human health risks should the property be developed for <br /> residential use.This vacant property is zoned Business by Lake County.However,institutional controls are <br /> in place to protect human health in the event of future residential development. <br /> As part of their ballast operations,UPRR relocated approximately 104,000 cubic yards of slag to the AV Slag <br /> Pile in March 1998,which brought the Harrison Street Slag Pile to grade.Soils samples taken after removal <br /> of the slag showed levels of lead in soils,both under where the slag pile was located and otherwise on the <br /> Harrison Avenue property,that exceed the residential action level for lead in soils of 3500 mg/kg.Thus,the <br /> lead in the soils on the Harrison Avenue property may create the potential for unacceptable human health <br /> risks should the property be developed for residential use.To date,the land remains vacant.Sections along <br /> the highway are zoned Commercial,and the remaining sections are zoned Transitional Commercial by the <br /> City of Leadville.However,institutional controls are in place to protect human health in the event of future <br /> residential development. <br /> In July 1998,UPRR submitted a Work Plan for the Consolidation of Fine Slag at the Railroad Easement Near <br /> McWethy Drive to 12th Street,Leadville,Colorado.The work plan provided for the easement to be converted <br /> into a segment of the Mineral Belt Trail.Consistent with the plan,fine slag from the rail easement was used <br /> as base material on the Mineral Belt Trail.More specifically,the fine slag was consolidated and covered with <br /> a compacted gravel sub-base of six inches and then two one-inch layers of asphalt to encapsulate it.This <br /> resource utilization was consistent with the contingency under the 1998 OU3 ROD.The completion of the <br /> consolidation work was approved in September 1998.The conversion of the railroad easement to the Mineral <br /> Belt Trail was completed with the installation of a sub-base,culverts,asphalt,signs,centerline striping,and <br /> re-vegetation.In accordance with a 1998 Memorandum of Understanding between EPA,UPRR,and Lake <br /> County,Lake County completed these projects,and UPRR provided funding for the sub-base,culverts,and <br /> asphalt in 2000.Ownership of the easement has been transferred to Lake County via quitclaim deed. <br /> OU3 Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) <br /> hftps://www.federairegister.gov/documents/2016/02/09/2016-02601/national-oil-and-hazardous-substance-pollution-contingency-plan-partial-deletio... 11/16 <br />