EPA removes part of Himco Dump site in Elkhart, Indiana, from Superfund list
CHICAGO (August 17, 2022) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has deleted 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, maintenance, and monitoring activities will continue there, no further cleanup is needed.
“Years of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting this site to where it is today,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “EPA’s commitment to cleanup Superfund sites will help restore the area to productive use.”
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 - a biproduct of Alka-Seltzer production - were disposed of at the site from 1960 until 1976, leaving behind contaminated soil and groundwater.
Cleanup of the site consisted of:
- Construction of a cap over the landfill area and planting vegetation
- Removed all construction debris and rubble from the surface of the construction debris area, excavated and disposed contaminated materials in the soil
- Installed a landfill gas management system around the landfill
- Provide municipal water to 37 residences and one commercial property
- Land and groundwater use restrictions to limit future land use on the landfill property and restrict groundwater use in areas affected by the groundwater contamination
- The agency placed deed restrictions on the landfill property and areas affected by the groundwater contamination to restrict groundwater use and limit future land use on the landfill property.
EPA continues to monitor groundwater quality to ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup and to evaluate the need for future groundwater treatment. The groundwater portion of the site will remain on the NPL. Two land areas and three additional residential backyards that were cleaned up also remain on the NPL due to issues with groundwater-use restrictions.
Sites on the NPL include the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of hazardous substances. EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment.
EPA encourages site reuse and deleting a site from the NPL can help revitalize communities, raise property values, and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete.
At Himco Dump and all sites where hazardous substances and pollutants or contaminants remain above levels that permit unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA conducts follow-up reviews every five years—even after NPL deletion. —These reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate the completed cleanup to ensure people and the environment continue to be protected.
More information about the site can be found on the Himco Dump website.
Please visit the federal register website to see the finalized partial deletion notice.
The partial deletion report website provides background information about the site and explains how the site meets EPA’s criteria for partial completion and deletion.
You can view the deletion docket index website for reports supporting this proposed partial deletion.
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