- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
BY STEVE ZABROSKI
Times Correspondent | Saturday, October 29, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
HAMMOND | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers are at the former Calumet Container property -- 11 marshy and polluted acres at the Indiana-Illinois border, on 136th Street between Wolf and Powderhorn lakes -- to remove hazardous chemicals from the site.
Over the next few months, the EPA hopes to remove 20,000 cubic yards of tainted soil from the property in a $1.7 million federal Superfund project.
"You probably won't see a lot of activity until next week," said Verneta Simon, EPA on-scene coordinator. "Right now, we're preparing the site."
The EPA will be at Calumet Container Monday through Friday, Simon said, and hopes to finish the project "before it snows."
Work to strip about two feet of dirt there was held up until an Indiana Department of Environmental Management survey completed earlier this year found little significant pollution of groundwater from the former chemical facility.
Calumet Container's business was rinsing, repainting and reselling used chemical drums from the 1960s through 1982, when the Indiana attorney general threatened to close the plant for air and water quality violations.
Within a week, an explosion and fire leveled the facility, leaving thousands of damaged chemical barrels, 69 semi trailers, severely contaminated soil and water. There were no company officials around when it happened.
Through 1984, the EPA removed more than 10,000 gallons of hazardous waste from the site, and more than 1,345 tons of crushed drums and contaminated soil, at a cost of nearly $400,000.
A follow-up investigation by IDEM in 2001 found critically unsafe levels of lead, cadmium, chromium and PCBs in the soil and water there.
In 2002, the EPA authorized another $1,732,146 to clean up the property.
"The city is very interested in the site," said Ronald Novak, executive director of the Hammond Department of Environmental Management, which has worked with EPA and IDEM throughout the process of cleaning up the property.
"But first we have to make sure we know the full extent of the issues," he said. "There's been a lot of contamination there."
The plot's location at the southern end of a near-unbroken stretch of green space from Robertsdale to the Pulaski Park neighborhood makes it ideal to preserve in a natural state, possibly with hiking or biking trails, Novak said.
"I'm surprised at the number of deer we've seen," Simon said. "Yesterday, there was a big buck here."
The EPA also hopes to recover clean-up costs from some 122 firms that did business with Calumet Container, an effort which is continuing, Simon said.
Back to story No comments posted.
- It wasn't clear, concise or focused on the topic in the story.
- It was a personal attack, vulgar, explicit or degrading, used actual or implied profanity or contained potentially libelous statements.
- It accused someone of being guilty of a crime.
- It promoted violence or illegal acts.
- It contained telephone numbers or street addresses, or e-mail addresses and links to Web sites other than nwi.com or government agencies.
In no way do these comments represent the views of The Times or Lee Enterprises.
Passionate views, pointed criticism and critical thinking are welcome. Name-calling, crude and profane language and personal abuse are not welcome.
Reader comments will not be edited - they will be approved or declined. They may be used in the print edition of the newspaper.
If you feel a posted comment has violated these guidelines, please email our New Media team the commenter's name, the comment and a link to the article.
For more information please read our Terms of Service.