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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Environment - Superfund site in Evansvlle; Indianapolis wins judgment for cleanup costs

From the August 23rd Evansville Courier & Press, this story by Mark Wilson. It begins:

Some of Evansville's oldest and poorest neighborhoods are on the verge of becoming a Superfund site targeted for a widespread cleanup of soils contaminated with lead from the smokestacks of factories long gone.

But children there will remain at risk because of the area's aging homes even after the cleanup is complete.

The risk of lead poisoning there, and in other parts of the city, too, is probably just as great from exposure to the lead-based paint in older housing, said Dwayne Caldwell, environmental health specialist with the Vanderburgh County Health Department.

But persuading parents to have their children tested has been an uphill battle.

From a press release issued yesterday by the Indianapolis mayor's office:
The City of Indianapolis succeeded in its first step to secure repayment of millions of taxpayer dollars used to clean up a contaminated eastside Brownfield site. An August 20th judgment secured against the Ertel Manufacturing Corporation found the company caused or contributed to environmental contamination at their former site on Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue. The case will now proceed with a determination of damages, estimated by the City to be more than $5 million. * * *

Before the City cleaned up the Ertel site, it contained significant amounts of contamination and an abandoned factory. To date, the City has spent more than $5 million to remove tons of contaminated soil and to protect the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood from contamination. In the court's ruling, it found that Ertel is liable to the City for these costs.

Today, the reclaimed property is an expansion site for Major Tool & Machine. The clean-up efforts allowed Major Tool & Machine to keep more than 250 jobs in Indianapolis and extend its operation.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2009 08:20 AM
Posted to Environment