Lane Street Investigation Site

Site Information

Elkhart, IN (Elkhart County)
EPA ID# INN000510229
CERCLIS listing
NPL Fact Sheet
Alias(es): Lane Street Groundwater Contamination

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Janet Pope (pope.janet@epa.gov)
312-353-0628 or 800-621-8431, ext.30628

Remedial project Manager
Leslie Blake
(blake.leslie@epa.gov)
312-353-7921 or 800-621-8431, ext. 37921

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Elkhart Public Library
300 South Second St.
Elkhart, IN 46516
(574) 522-2665

Links

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund Frequent Questions

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

Fact Sheet about Chlorinated Solvents:Trichloroethylene (PDF) (2pp, 53K)

Public Meeting

EPA invites you to a public meeting (PDF) (1pp, 26KB) May 2013.

May 22, 2013 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., at Osolo Elementary School, 24975 CR 6 E, Elkhart, IN

Background

EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Managementhave identified elevated levels of trichloroethylene (TCE) in ground water and well water samples collected from residences on Lane Street in Elkhart, Ind. TCE is a type of industrial solvent. (see ATSDR fact sheet about trichloroethylene [PDF] [2pp, 53K])

IDEM began a site investigation in the Lane Street residential area in response to a telephone call from the Elkhart County Health Department on August 22, 2007, stating that a resident on Lane Street in Elkhart, Ind., had submitted a drinking water sample to an independent laboratory for analysis. The analysis of the water revealed highly elevated levels of TCE.

On August 23 and 30, 2007, IDEM staff sampled the ground water from private wells on and north of Lane Street including the residence that had phoned the Elkhart County Health Department with the elevated TCE concentration. The wells at several homes were found to be contaminated. Initially, IDEM furnished bottled water to about 13 homes whose wells were either contaminated or near contaminated wells. Later, EPA provided water filtration systems to these 13 homes. After further investigation of the contamination, EPA connected 26 homes on the street and adjoining streets that had private wells to the municipal water supply, completing this in November 2008. The other homes on Lane Street were already connected to the municipal water supply.

In April and May 2011, EPA contractors sampled groundwater at 25 different locations within the residential area as well as the industrial area of the Lane Street site. The goal of the sampling was to find out how far the contamination has moved and to possibly find the source of the contamination.

Approximately 170 groundwater samples and 14 soil samples were collected during the field event including two private groundwater well samples from a residential and a commercial property. Site related contaminants were not found in any of the soil samples. However, the contaminants TCE, 1,1-dichloroethane (1,1-DCA), and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were found in the groundwater samples. The groundwater results are presented in figures below.

The sampling results will help EPA decide where monitoring wells should be installed. The monitoring wells will allow EPA to monitor ground water over several months to see if any changes occur over the seasons. EPA also plans to collect soil gas samples from areas where the groundwater plume has been defined as containing contaminants at the highest concentrations to investigate potential vapor intrusion concerns. If results indicate there are concerns, more sampling will be done.

IDEM and EPA are working further to try to determine the source of the chemical contamination and identify appropriate long-term measures for ground water remediation.

Site Updates | News Releases || Technical Documents | Fact Sheets || Public Meetings

You will need the free Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

Site Updates

May 2013

In April and May 2011, EPA contractors sampled ground water at 25 locations, both residential and industrial. These samples showed elevated levels of trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other contaminants. Based on the results of those samples, EPA is doing a second round of investigation that will begin in late spring. It includes both the industrial park to the north and residential area.