EPA to oversee cleanup of Superfund site, residential yards in Indiana

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced an agreement with Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, and the city of South Bend, Indiana, to clean portions of Lasalle Park and two nearby residential yards at the Beck’s Lake Superfund site.

According to an EPA news release, soil sampling at the site found lead levels exceeding the agency’s residential soil removal management level (RML) of 400 parts per million. The EPA says RMLs help to identify areas, contaminants and conditions where cleanup may be needed to protect human health and the environment.

EPA says it plans to oversee the cleanup taking place this spring on portions of Lasalle Park and the nearby residential properties.

At Lasalle Park, cleanup activities will include “excavating soil from areas with contamination above the RML, backfilling the areas with clean soil and capping them with one to two feet of additional clean soil.”

At the two nearby residential properties, sections with contaminated soil above the RML will be excavated to a depth of two feet below ground and backfilled with clean soil. To ensure the safety of the local community and workers during the cleanup, a specific health and safety plan for the project will be followed. Cleanup activities are expected to be completed this fall, says the EPA.

Historical records indicate that the Beck’s Lake Superfund site was used as a dumping ground from the 1930s to the mid-1950s. Asbestos, plating and paint wastes, solvents and oils, and arsenic-contaminated foundry sand may have been disposed of in this area. The site was listed on the National Priorities List in December 2013.