KEMRON/Arrowhead Joint Venture (KAJV) performed a multi-year remedial action at the Newton County Mine Tailings Superfund Site for U.S. EPA Region 7. The project addressed mine waste and contaminated soil across approximately 350 acres and has a reported value of more than $53 million. Work included characterization, large-volume excavation and repository disposal, closure of abandoned mine features, stormwater management, and restoration of affected properties.

KAJV established excavation limits using 100-foot by 100-foot grids and performed pre-excavation X-ray fluorescence screening across 2,654 sampling grids. Through February 10, 2025, the team had excavated, transported, and disposed of approximately 1.57 million cubic yards of rock, chat, fine sand, silt, and impacted soil at the East 17th Street Repository. Drone surveys supported quantity measurement and project controls.

The remedial action also included closure of 210 subsidence pits, 40 mine shafts, and 11 vent pipes. Mine shafts were filled, capped with reinforced concrete, covered with clean fill and topsoil, geospatially documented, and marked with permanent monuments. Following confirmation sampling, affected properties were backfilled, regraded, recontoured, and revegetated.

The project required extensive coordination with property owners, including access agreements, livestock management, fencing, haul routes, and restoration of pasture areas. KAJV also implemented detention berms, rock-lined and vegetated channels, check dams, and other stormwater controls to manage runoff across steep and rocky terrain. One hundred percent of the craft labor force was hired locally, and the project reported zero reportable incidents through the latest documented reporting period.

The project demonstrates KAJV’s ability to integrate large-scale mine waste remediation, field characterization, high-volume excavation and transportation, abandoned mine closure, stormwater management, and property restoration across a geographically extensive Superfund site.

Project Highlights

• $53M+ — Reported project value
• 350 acres — Approximate remediation area
• 1.57M CY — Mine waste and contaminated soil removed
• 2,654 — Sampling grids screened
• 210 — Subsidence pits closed
• 40 — Mine shafts closed
• 100% — Local craft labor
• 0 — Reportable incidents through the latest reporting period