HEARING TUESDAY ON SIKESTON WASTE SITE

SIKESTON -- The Missouri Department of Health will host a public availability session Tuesday, Jan. 9 to discuss residents' concerns about the Quality Plating hazardous waste site.

The meeting will start at 4 p.m. at the West Room of the Sikeston Ramada Inn.

Representatives of the health department and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources will be on hand to answer questions and address concerns, said Brian Quinn, a spokesman for the health department's Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology.

Quality Plating operated from 1978 until a fire destroyed the plant in 1983.

"The only thing left now is the foundation of the original building and a small shed from the original facility," Quinn said.

The site is an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund cleanup site. Remaining cleanup has been put on hold until federal funding for the project is available, said Jalal El-Jayyousi, project manager of the site for the DNR hazardous waste management program.

The company electroplated precious metals and discharged about 10,000 gallons of wastewater daily into a 1-acre lagoon.

The contaminated wastewater contaminated ground water at the site, Quinn said.

In addition, the company buried sludge that contaminated soil on the site. Contaminants found on the site include nickel, cadmium and zinc, Quinn said.

El-Jayyousi said the contaminated soil and the wastewater in the lagoon have been removed from the site.

The remaining work is to clean up contaminated ground water, he said.

"No private wells are affected at this point," he said. Private wells on surrounding properties are tested twice a year to check for contamination.

Quinn said the public availability session is being held in response to health concerns voiced by residents living around the site, which is about five miles north of Sikeston on Scott County Hwy. 448.

"We're hearing mainly about a child who is apparently having some developmental and physical problems," Quinn said. "There are some people who live near the site who feel that it's site-related.

"All of our research shows that none of the health problems that they're telling us about can be linked to exposure to the substances found on the site.

Another person has complained about "weight loss and some gastrointestinal problems and some of those kinds of things," Quinn said. "From what we've seen, those can't be linked to exposure to the elements at the site."

A health consultation written on the Quality Plating site determined residents neighboring the site haven't been exposed to site contaminants, and so the site does not pose a public health hazard.

The consultation, which is available at the Sikeston Public Library, listed three conclusions:

-People who live near the site are experiencing illnesses that can't be linked to exposure to site contamination, but those individuals could be exposed to contaminants in their homes or places of work, which could contribute to their illnesses.

-Ground water beneath the site is contaminated with hexavalent chromium at levels higher than those known to be harmful to human health. A plume of contaminated ground water is moving southward from the site, and could reach existing wells if planned remedial efforts aren't implemented.

-There is a potential for someone to move to the area south of the site, sink a well for drinking water and become exposed to the contaminated ground water.

For more information about Tuesday's public availability session or the Quality Plating health consultation, call the Missouri Health Department toll-free at (314) 392-7245.