Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Radio Materials Corporation Facility - Attica, Indiana
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on the proposed cleanup for the Radio Materials Corporation (Site or RMC) in Attica, Indiana. During a prior investigation, EPA determined that former owners and operators of the Site released chlorinated volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and other chemicals into the environment. These contaminants then migrated outside of property boundaries.
Note: U.S.EPA is the lead agency for this site.
Facility Description
The RMC site is located at 1095 East Summit Street, Attica, Indiana. Located in a residential- agricultural area, the Site occupies approximately 19.5 acres and is bordered on the northwest, north, and northeast by undeveloped land, to the south and southeast by residences, and to the south by Ravine Park. RMC began operating at its Attica location in 1948. Processes conducted at the Site included the manufacture of television tubes and ceramic components such as capacitors and resonators for the electronics industry. Manufacturing operations released VOCs such as trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) to soils at the Site. Some of these contaminants reached groundwater and moved off the RMC property to the north and northwest. Based on the extensive investigation of contaminated soil and groundwater, interim remedial measures were implemented to address the released VOCs with EPA’s oversight.
Contaminants at this Facility
The most common VOCs detected include trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (Perc or PCE). Some of the VOCs leached into the groundwater and moved off the RMC property to the north and northwest, transported by groundwater.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
After issuing a Administrative Consent Order in 1999, a multi-media investigation was initiated at the Site to determine what was released and where it may have traveled, as well as to determine the potential health risks and environmental effects of the identified contamination. Based on the potential risks associated with the exposure to these VOCs, treatment was included in the City’s drinking water system and vapor mitigation systems were installed in homes located over the contaminated southern plume to abate the imminent exposures. Contaminated soil and waste materials were managed through treatment or disposal. A hydraulic containment and treatment system prevented the contaminated southern plume groundwater from moving beyond the Site boundary. This system is currently being replaced by a permeable reactive barrier system to optimize containment and treatment efficiency. The existing exposure and migration controls implemented and operating since 2008, serve to meet the EPA’s short-term goal of protecting human health and controlling the migration of contaminated groundwater beyond the Site boundary. EPA continues to oversee the performance of these cleanup measures. The additional remediation actions outlined in the Statement of Basis document are necessary to reduce on-site and off-site VOCs in groundwater and soil to safe levels.
Proposed Cleanup
A low level of groundwater and surface soil contamination remains within the property boundary and in some off-site areas after implementing the interim measures. EPA’s final remedy objective is to ensure that conditions remain protective in current and future exposure conditions. Additionally, any remaining contamination should be removed, reduced, or contained. These objectives are to be achieved by implementing and/or maintaining a combination of engineering and enforceable institutional controls to meet the above conditions.
EPA is proposing the following to address the remaining risk associated with worker direct contact with soil, residential drinking water, and soil vapor inhalation exposure pathways. Some of the existing remedies will be continued until the environmental standards are met. EPA proposes these remedies after carefully considering all the available remedy options or alternatives provided to meet the remedial objectives.
- Treat cVOC-impacted soil using In-Situ Chemical Oxidation technology; operate and maintain city water treatment system and vapor mitigation solutions; maintain the PRB after evaluating the performance efficiency associated with groundwater migration control and reduction of contaminant levels beyond the Site boundary.
- Utilize Monitored Natural Attenuation, or MNA, to ensure groundwater cleanup goals are reached; and
- Enforce institutional controls or ICs, and long-term stewardship to ensure the property remains safe for workers and restricts use of the Site to industrial purposes in the future. Maintain the City’s groundwater ordinance that prohibits the use of groundwater.
EPA has issued the Statement of Basis document to share with the public the details of the Site’s history, the studies that have been completed, and a detailed description of the cleanup items proposed above.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
The US EPA issued a RCRA 3008 (h) Consent Order (Consent Order) to RMC that became effective on March 1, 1999.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Or this external link to information about the facility:
- Facility web site (EXIT EPA) [Optional: Add a link to the facility's web site, or delete the external link reference here.]
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
Francisco Arcaute, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator; U.S. EPA Region 5, 19 J, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590; (arcaute.francisco@epa.gov).
Erika McCormick Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program Project Manager, Region 5, LR-16J, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604; (mccormick.erika@epa.gov) Phone: 312-886-4245.
Jose Cisneros(Branch Manager of the Remediation Branch); Phone: 312-886-6945; Gregory Rudloff (Section Supervisor); Phone: 312-886-0455; Shilpa Patel (Section Supervisor); Phone: 312-886-0120
All of the states in EPA Region 5 are authorized to implement Corrective Action Programs. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2015, EPA Region 5 had 864 sites listed on the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.