Asbestos Clean-Up Ending at Minneapolis Park

October 16, 2006 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is putting the finishing touches on the clean-up of Gluek Park, a Minneapolis park and designated Superfund site.  The soil at the park was contaminated by asbestos left behind by fill material that was acquired from Western Minerals, a former local company that manufactured insulation.

According to a story in Pioneer Press newspaper, the $2.3 million clean-up cost substantially less than the $3 million that had been allotted to make the area asbestos-free. 

The report notes that the EPA supervised removal of the top 24 inches of topsoil at the 2.6 acre park. The 15,000 tons of material was sent to an EPA-approved treatment facility. Vegetation was removed, but most trees were saved, according to the agency.

During the 1950s and 1960s, gravel-like asbestos-contaminated waste from the now defunct Western Minerals insulation plant was used as fill material and made available for use by local residents.  Some of this unsafe material was used at Glue Park, according to city officials.

To date, the EPA has spent $13 million on the clean-up of both the former Western Mills factory site and the park.  They are now in talks with W.R. Grace, a successor company to Western Minerals, in an attempt to recover at least a portion of their costs.