EPA proposes adding Indiana site contaminated with lead, arsenic to Superfund list
The U.S. EPA this month proposed an old smelting site in the northwest corner of Indiana be added as a national priority to the agency’s Superfund program.
Residential properties and sediment at a lake near the former Federated Metals Corp. in Hammond are contaminated with elevated levels of lead and arsenic.
High levels of arsenic can be lethal, while lower levels can cause skin discoloration and the appearance of warts and corns. Lead poisoning has serious ill effects for children and pregnant women, and can also lead to cardiovascular problems, decreased kidney functions and reproductive problems in adults.
“When we add a site to the National Priorities List, EPA is committing to permanently addressing contamination on-site and ensuring surrounding communities receive the protection and support they deserve,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in the release.
The last Indiana site EPA included on its NPL was in 2022 in Goshen, where a groundwater plume contaminated with chlorinated solvents reached four municipal wells that supply drinking water to the city.
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Why is the site being added to the Superfund list?
Sites are added to the Superfund National Priorities List because “releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks,” the agency said in a statement announcing the Hammond site proposal.
IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess asked the EPA in a March 29, 2022, letter to include the site on the National Priorities List because it requires a long-term response.
“An NPL listing would allow for proper and timely investigation into the nature and extent of the contamination and enable the U.S. EPA to determine cleanup alternatives for the impacted areas, thereby protecting human health and the environment,” Rockensuess wrote.
In his letter, Rockensuess noted the lead and/or arsenic concentrations at affected properties exceed three times the background level.
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What is the Hammond site’s history?
Federated Metals operated for about 50 years in Hammond along George Lake’s shoreline. The company stopped operations at the facility in 1983, but other smelting facilities used the property afterward.
The site was regulated for some time under an EPA program to dispose of solid and hazardous waste and in 2016 was referred to the Superfund removal program to “investigate potential contamination in the surrounding neighborhood.”
The initial waste cleanup under the EPA included dredging the lake and establishing a landfill within the former facility’s property. EPA remediated 33 properties, but hundreds more still need sampling.
What happens next?
The EPA’s proposal to put the site on the NPL undergoes a 60-day comment period.
Comments can be made online, or by mail at:
epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Superfund Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460
All submitted comments must include the site’s Docket ID, which is EPA–HQ–OLEM–2023–0050.
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk
IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: EPA proposes former Indiana smelting plant for Superfund list
