HERCULANEUM, Mo. — Plans are moving forward to revitalize contaminated wasteland that was once the Herculaneum lead smelter complex. The Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund site is slated to become a prominent port along the Mississippi River.
For 121 years, smoke billowed from the Doe Run smelter in Herculaneum. The company liquified lead concentrates to create pure lead. The process sent dangerous amounts of lead into the surrounding community.
"Because of what was here before, I'd say this ground has been studied to the ends of the earth," Jefferson County Port Authority President Derrick Good said.
The Superfund site has been remediated by third-party Riverview Commerce Partners (RCP). Thursday afternoon, the Jefferson County Port Authority announced the purchase of 18 acres of cleaned-up riverfront property. The authority spent $20 million to acquire the land.
"A lot of this land has been ok'd by the EPA for development," Good explains, "the ground that we have, the EPA lien was released on it several years ago."
Now that the port authority owns the land, what comes next?
Good said, "Maybe we're the dog that caught the car. I don't know, right? We have to figure out the business. Luckily we have a tremendous partner in RCP that already knows the business."
The business of shipping by road, rail and riverway, that is.
"Our farmers could save up to 60% of their shipping to the far east with American Patriot Holdings Project," Good said.
The APH is planning to construct and operate self-propelled container vessels on the Mississippi that would port in Herculaneum... just not any time soon. Good said there are "a lot" of things that have to fall into place, including a large port project in Louisiana.
Based off the master plan, the site will include a warehouse and distribution center, a new over-water bridge and updated roadways.
