MISSOURI ELECTRIC WORKS MEETING SET FOR TONIGHT

Staff members from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and health agencies will discuss the Missouri Electric Works cleanup project at a meeting today in Cape Girardeau.

The open-house-format session will be held from 5-7 p.m. at the Drury Lodge, I-55 and Route K. The meeting is open to the public.

The informal session is set up to allow interested persons to talk with staff one on one, EPA officials said.

The contractor, Williams Environmental Services of Stone Mountain, Ga., hopes to clean up the contaminated soil by year's end. The cleanup effort at the Superfund site will cost about $3 million.

Some 20,000 to 30,000 tons of soil at the site of the former motor and transformer repair business at 824 S. Kingshighway and neighboring commercial properties will be excavated and heat treated.

The heat treatment is designed to separate the PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls from the soil. The treated soil will then be spread on the site.

Today's meeting is one of a continuing series of information sessions designed to keep the public informed about the cleanup work, EPA officials said.