The Forest City air monitoring station is located near a secondary lead smelter owned by Exide Technologies, formerly known as the Canon Hollow Plant - now the Forest City Facility LLC. Since the mid-1970s, the plant has recycled lead-acid batteries to recover the lead, refine it and make it reusable. The state-operated monitor helps determine exposure to airborne lead from the smelter for a segment of the population.

The monitor was operated as Schuylkill Metals-West, or the levee site, from 1996 to 2000. Monitoring ceased in 2000. The department reactivated the monitor in response to EPA monitoring regulations, 2008-2010. The EPA ID was the same as today's Forest City site.

To learn about other air monitoring sites the department operates as part of the state's ambient air monitoring network, visit Air Monitoring Sites.

Pollutants

Lead

Since 2008, the primary and secondary ambient air standards for lead have remained at 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3). The primary standard reflects EPA's concern for public health, while the second standard demonstrates concern for public welfare. EPA bases the standard on the highest rolling three-month average over a period of three years and two months. A monitoring site meets the standard when the lead concentration is less than or equal to 0.15 μg/m3 averaged over three months. The standard is not met if the concentration exceeds that level once or more within a three-year period. 

Forest City Exide Levee Air Monitoring Site
Address

300 S. Washington St.
Oregon, MO 64473
United States

EPA Site ID
29-087-0008
County
Holt
Date Established
Pollutants Monitored
Lead
Latitude/Longitude
40.027222, -95.235833