Jump to main content.

Pike and Mulberry Streets PCE Plume

Site Information
Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator

Don de Blasio (deblasio.don@epa.gov)
312-886-4360 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64360

NPL Coordinator
Nuria Muniz (muniz.nuria@epa.gov)
312-886-4439 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64439

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund glossary
Superfund Frequent Questions
Superfund Information Systems Frequent Questions

Region 5 RCRA

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

 

The Pike and Mulberry Site was proposed for addition to the Superfund program National Priorities List on Sept. 14, 2012.

The Pike and Mulberry Street PCE plume site is in Martinsville, Ind. There are several possible sources of contamination at this site, including Master Wear, a commercial and institutional dry cleaning and laundry operation formerly operating at 28 N. Main St. The 38-acre plume is contaminated with chlorinated solvents, primarily tetrachloroethylene (often referred to as PCE), and has affected one of Martinsville’s municipal drinking water wells. The wellfield serves about 15,000 people and Martinsville has operated an activated carbon filtration system since 2005 to remove PCE from its water. However, monitoring has shown that PCE levels continue to increase.

How a site is listed

The NPL is EPA's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for possibly long-term cleanup. EPA identifies any parties potentially responsible for the contamination. For sites without a viable responsible party, EPA investigates the extent of the contamination before starting any significant cleanup. When a site is added to the NPL it is eligible for financial resources to fully characterize the extent of the contamination and develop a cleanup plan.

EPA uses a mechanism called the Hazard Ranking System to place hazardous waste sites on the NPL. This is a scoring tool using initial and limited investigations to assess the potential that the site poses a threat to human health and the environment. Scores are based on the potential of hazardous substances spreading from the site and other factors such as density and how close the contamination is to people.

Documents

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.