Skip to main content

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has extended the Areawide Air Pollution Action Day through Monday, July 20th. This is in addition to the ongoing Areawide Air Pollution Action Day in effect today July 19th. This alert includes all of Illinois’ Air Quality Index (AQI) forecast sectors, except Metro-East St. Louis. Visit www.AirNow.gov to stay up to date on current conditions. 

Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railyard

Murphysboro, Illinois
Jackson County 

Properties near the Meadows of Murphy Subdivision were previously operated as the Greenburg Junkyard. Battery plates and other debris left from this operation suggest that the lead contamination was deposited in this area from a battery cracking operation. Earlier in this century, this property was part of the former Mobile & Ohio rail yard and was used as a railroad switching yard, roundhouse, and storage for railroad ties.

Soil sampling indicated elevated levels of lead, dioxin, and other contaminants in and around the subdivision. Recently, the homeowners in the mobile home park accepted a buyout offer by the Canadian National Railway. The Canadian National Railway accepted responsibility of the cleanup.

Contact

For more information, please contact the Illinois EPA Office of Community Relations. Additional documents not available on this webpage may be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request or through IEPA Document Explorer.