EPA Proposes Removing Part of Himco Dump site in Elkhart, Indiana, from Superfund List
Public Comment period ends May 2
CHICAGO (March 31, 2022) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a 30-day public comment period on its proposal to delete a portion of the Himco Dump site in Elkhart, Indiana, from Superfund’s National Priorities List, or NPL. Cleanup has been completed at the landfill area, four adjacent properties, and 43 downgradient properties. EPA has determined that while operation and maintenance activities will continue there, no further cleanup is needed.
The 60-acre Himco Dump site at the intersection of County Road 10 and John Weaver Parkway includes an unlicensed landfill, a 4-acre construction debris area, the backyards of seven residences, one commercial property and groundwater south and east of the landfill. Household refuse, construction rubble, medical waste and calcium sulfate were disposed of at the site from 1960 until 1976 leaving behind contaminated soil and groundwater.
Cleanup continues at the groundwater portion of the site which remains on the NPL. Two land areas and three additional residential backyards that were cleaned up also remain on the NPL due to formal groundwater use restrictions.
Additional information about the site and the proposed deletion can be found in the attached report at: https://semspub.epa.gov/work/05/972087.pdf.
Additional reports about the site are available in the NPL deletion docket at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/himco-dump under “Site Documents & Data.” Information is also available at the Elkhart Public Library, Pierre Moran Branch, 2400 Benham Ave., and in the administrative record at the Elkhart Public Library, Main Branch, 300 S. Second St.
The NPL tracks the nation’s most contaminated sites that threaten human health or the environment. Sites on the list are eligible for cleanup under the Superfund program; and once all the remedies are successfully implemented, EPA removes sites or parts of sites from the list.
EPA’s comment period begins March 31 and closes May 2. The public may submit comments by:
- Online: https://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1990-0010
- Email: Deletions@usepa.onmicrosoft.com
EPA expects to finalize the deletion in a Federal Register notice issued in August 2022.