Warsaw Chemical Remains On List Of State Cleanup Sites
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The Warsaw Chemical site remains on an Indiana Department of Environmental Management list of cleanup sites, as it has since 1991.
IDEM's Commissioner's Bulletin lists 62 cleanup sites throughout the state. To be removed from the list, a site must have completed cleanup requirements and must no longer pose a threat to human health or the environment. In 2000, the agency removed five sites that appeared last year.
Kosciusko County has one site, Warsaw Chemical, on the bulletin eligible for cleanup under the State Cleanup Program, Indiana's version of the federal Superfund program.
At Warsaw Chemical, Argonne and Durbin streets, the problem began with the discovery of solvents in the groundwater in summer 1998 and was traced back to the company by the U.S. EPA in October 1988.
To eliminate the sources of contamination, Warsaw Chemical ceased operating their older bulk plant in April 1990 and replaced it with an environmentally compliant plant. Nine underground storage tanks were removed and two underground storage tanks were closed in place.
An air stripper system was chosen to remediate the groundwater contamination with two air stripper towers in service, two years after the contamination discovery, in September 1990.
The air stripper tower system continues to operate and will operate until it has been determined the contamination has been removed. Groundwater samples are taken from monitoring wells on and near the site and from residential wells near the site on a quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis to verify the contamination is being reduced. Additional investigation work also is planned for the site.
More than one-third of the counties in the state remain on the list.
The sites, and information about them can be viewed on the Internet at www.state.in.us/idem/olq/programs/statecleanup/club.html
Lynette Schrowe, 317-232-8552, is the IDEM representative for specific questions regarding the Warsaw Chemical site. [[In-content Ad]]
The Warsaw Chemical site remains on an Indiana Department of Environmental Management list of cleanup sites, as it has since 1991.
IDEM's Commissioner's Bulletin lists 62 cleanup sites throughout the state. To be removed from the list, a site must have completed cleanup requirements and must no longer pose a threat to human health or the environment. In 2000, the agency removed five sites that appeared last year.
Kosciusko County has one site, Warsaw Chemical, on the bulletin eligible for cleanup under the State Cleanup Program, Indiana's version of the federal Superfund program.
At Warsaw Chemical, Argonne and Durbin streets, the problem began with the discovery of solvents in the groundwater in summer 1998 and was traced back to the company by the U.S. EPA in October 1988.
To eliminate the sources of contamination, Warsaw Chemical ceased operating their older bulk plant in April 1990 and replaced it with an environmentally compliant plant. Nine underground storage tanks were removed and two underground storage tanks were closed in place.
An air stripper system was chosen to remediate the groundwater contamination with two air stripper towers in service, two years after the contamination discovery, in September 1990.
The air stripper tower system continues to operate and will operate until it has been determined the contamination has been removed. Groundwater samples are taken from monitoring wells on and near the site and from residential wells near the site on a quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis to verify the contamination is being reduced. Additional investigation work also is planned for the site.
More than one-third of the counties in the state remain on the list.
The sites, and information about them can be viewed on the Internet at www.state.in.us/idem/olq/programs/statecleanup/club.html
Lynette Schrowe, 317-232-8552, is the IDEM representative for specific questions regarding the Warsaw Chemical site. [[In-content Ad]]