EPA RCRA ID: IND005477021 draft
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Latest News
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Latest News
- In-person public meeting Wednesday Nov. 2, 2022 5:00 -7:00 pm at Attica City Hall, 305 E. Main St., Attica, Indiana.
- Public Comment on Proposed Cleanup Plan for Radio Materials Corporation October 25 through November 23.
Cleanup Activities
Note: The state is the lead agency for managing this facility. For more information about cleanup activities, visit the state’s web page.
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 cVOCs, and other chemicals into the environment. These contaminants then migrated outside of property boundaries.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The RMC site is located in west central Indiana at 1095 East Summit Street in the northeastern portion of the City of Attica, Fountain County. 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 cVOCs 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 cVOCs 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 cVOCs, 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 cVOCs 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.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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|
Governmental Controls (GC) |
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|
Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | |||
|
Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
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 and Publicly Available Electronic Records
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
Bhooma Sundar, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Mail Code: LCRD-16J 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, Illinois 60604, phone: Bhooma Sundar (sundar.bhooma@epa.gov).
Jose Cisneros(Branch Manager of the Remediation Branch); Phone: 312-886-6945; Michael Beedle (Section Supervisor); Phone: 312-353-7922; 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.