The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 5, has announced that the cleanup of the former slag processing area of the Continental Steel Superfund site in Kokomo, Ind., has been completed two years ahead of schedule. Funding for the cleanup was provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The cleanup was managed in consultation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
In April 2009, EPA received $5.9 million in funding to clean up two portions of the 183-acre Superfund site: the former slag processing area and contaminated groundwater. The money was part of $600 million appropriated by Congress to address 51 Superfund sites. It accelerated hazardous waste cleanup already underway at this site by more than two years. Fifteen Indiana contractors or subcontractors were involved in the ARRA-funded work.
The slag processing cleanup began in September 2009 and included moving about 86,000 tons of slag for use as fill at the acid lagoon area and grading, capping and seeding the area. The result is land suitable for potential redevelopment, according to the EPA. ARRA funds also are being used to treat groundwater contamination sources, monitor and remove contaminated ground water and send it off-site for treatment and disposal.
Prior to the new funding, EPA spent more than $66 million on cleanup activities at the site, while IDEM has spent about $6 million. Previous cleanup work included demolishing the main plant buildings and excavation and disposal of heavily contaminated soil and waste piles in that area and dredging and disposal of contaminated sediment from the Kokomo and Wildcat creeks and a nearby quarry.
Other work at the site included backfilling and capping of the quarry, which was completed in August. The water treatment plant, the last remaining structure on the site, was demolished this August as well. The acid lagoon and groundwater remediation is ongoing and expected to be completed in 2012.
Continental Steel operated on the site from about 1914 to 1986 when it filed for bankruptcy.
More information on the Continental Steel Superfund site is available at www.epa.gov/superfund/eparecovery/continental_steel.html.