Meramec Caverns fully open for final weeks of summer
By Monte Miller, Record Staff Writer
Posted 4/9/16
With less than a week left before the unofficial end of summer, attendance at Meramec Caverns has suffered this season from no fault of the owners. Caverns owner Lester Turilli said the closures have …
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Meramec Caverns fully open for final weeks of summer
Posted
By Monte Miller, Record Staff Writer
With less than a week left before the unofficial end of summer, attendance at Meramec Caverns has suffered this season from no fault of the owners.Caverns owner Lester Turilli said the closures have hurt cave attendance and his other on-site attractions.“We just fully got opened three weeks ago,” Turilli said. “Only being partially opened for most of the summer will make for a tough winter.”The caves were closed after concentrations of trichloroethylene vapors were discovered last year. The EPA is overseeing a process to ventilate the cave system from TCE.,In early June, Turilli said they were finally 100 percent clear and the Caverns were opened in phases, as air testing allowed, and the upper and front portion of the caves were reopened to the public.“This has affected us significantly,” Turilli said. “The cave is the hub, and if it is closed, people don’t come out for the zipline or camping.”In addition to his own attractions, Turilli said the cave closure also had an impact on other business in the Stanton area due to the loss of tourism traffic.In addition to his own attractions, Turilli said the cave closure also had an impact on other businesses in the Stanton area due to the loss of tourism traffic.Throughout the process Turilli has worked with the EPA to remedy the air quality issues in all parts of the caverns.The remediation work included installing air blocks in the cave, which keeps air from moving from the back to the front of the cave.Exhaust fans were installed in the front of the cave, and air was expelled from the cave. Fans also were installed on top of the cave, past where the public goes, to get the vapors out before they would reach the tour route in the front of the cave.Turelli said he wasn’t sure of the overall remediation costs, but, “considerable large amounts were spent and will continue to be spent” to keep the public safe.According to the EPA, the vapors in the caves probably came from a former auto parts factory and a landfill in Sullivan. Both are associated with the Oak Grove Village Superfund Site, which became part of the EPA’s National Priorities List in 2002.
