Abandoned 'Superfund Buildings' Demolished in Wildwood

Demolition of the vacant structures located on a Strecker Forest site at 165 and 173 Strecker Road in began Monday. These houses and buildings were left standing since and Wildwood officials entered a lawsuit in 2008 about developing the nearby, former Superfund site and remediated land into a new residential subdivision.

Neighbors complained the vacant structures detracted from their property values and sent negative perceptions about the area. Concerns about freeing dangerous, potential contaminants prevented city officials from taking action, however.

Following advice of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wildwood's environmental consultant, city council members recently authorized the demolitions, once appropriate permits were issued by St. Louis County, including special requirements intended to limit site disturbance and control dust.

According to Wildwood City Administrator Dan Dubruiel, these conditions include the following:

• Limit site disturbance to area of houses absolutely necessary for demolition activities.
• No removal of basement foundations; fill with dirt.
• Conduct demolition only when calm or light wind conditions to prevent dust dispersal.
• Wet-down structures before, during and after demolition, and wet-down debris when loading for transport away from the site.
• Transport debris away in covered vehicles
• No on-site salvage of demolished materials.

Complete demolition was slated to be complete within no more than five days. The accompanying photos for this article were taken at the site Wednesday. The company present at the site was Westfall Paving & Escavating.