Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
HANCOCK COUNTY
HANCOCK COUNTY

Congressional District # 5

POER FARM

EPA ID# IND980684583
Last Updated: December, 2008

Site Description

Poer Farm is a five acre site located on a small hill between two streams and along East County Road about three miles north of Wilkinson, Indiana. The site is an abandoned tract of land with a house and barn that collapsed and were vandalized. The surrounding area is open farmland that supports crops of soybeans and corn.

The site consists of three separate areas where Norman Poer and Michael Coleman received and stored about 275 drums of solvents and paint resins from 1973 until 1983. The owners planned to blend these materials into low-quality paint for bridges and barns. They abandoned the project and left the 55 gallon drums on the site.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) inspected the site and found that the drums were leaking and that vegetation surrounding the area was damaged. U.S. EPA analyzed the drums and surrounding soils and found the soil to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals.

Agricultural lands completely surround the Poer Farm site, and the nearest residence is approximately 650 feet to the north. Approximately 500 people live three miles north of the site in Wilkinson, and approximately 2,300 people live five miles away in Knightstown, Indiana.

Site Responsibility

This site was addressed through federal actions.  Cost for these actions were reimbursed by the potentially responsible party, under a three party (federal, state, PRP) enforcement agreement.

Threats and Contaminants

Soils onsite contained VOCs, including toluene, xylene, and ethyl benzene and heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, and lead. U.S. EPA sampled the entire site following emergency actions and found no significant levels of contamination that could pose a threat to the environment. Therefore, people near the site are not at risk from exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Cleanup Progress

The site was proposed to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Before final NPL listing, U.S. EPA removed all wastes and six to eight inches of soils from the drum storage areas on the site under an emergency action. All solid and liquid wastes were disposed in offsite waste facilities.

In 1985, the site potentially responsible party (PRP), the party EPA determined may be responsible for site contamination, signed a Consent Order with U.S. EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management agreeing to reimburse U.S. EPA for the previous response action costs and costs for a study to evaluate additional site contamination. Based on the 1985 U.S. EPA study and a 1988 study conducted by the site PRP, U.S. EPA determined that the removal and disposal of waste in 1983, had eliminated the threat posed by the site and no further cleanup was necessary.

A public document, signed by EPA, stating that "No Further Action" was needed at the site was signed in September 1988. A site Close-Out Report was written and signed in Aug. 30, 1990. The site was deleted from the National Priorities List on February 11, 1991.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
howard caine (caine.howard@epa.gov)
(312) 353-9685

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
mike joyce
(312) 353-5546

Aliases

NORMAN POER FARM

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.