vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency For more information For questions or comments about the Bennett's Dump site and the selected cleanup plan you may contact these EPA representatives: Thomas Alcamo EPA Remedial Project Manager (800) 621-8431 Ext. 67278 alcamo.thomas@epa.gov Stuart Hill EPA Community Involvement Coordinator (800) 621-8431 Ext. 60689 hill.stuart@epa.gov Chicago office EPA Region 5 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604-3590 Read the documents An official site file has been set up at the Monroe County Public Library, 303 E. Kirkwood, Bloomington, where you can read all the past engineering reports and studies as well as EPA documents such as the record of decision amendment. On the Web http ://cfpub .epa.gov/supercpad/ cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0501343 EPA Picks Cleanup Plan For Polluted Dump Site Bennett's Dump Superfund Site Bloomington, Indiana December 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made a decision on how to modify a previous cleanup plan for the Bennett's Dump Superfund site so PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, do not continue to pollute a nearby creek. EPA held a public meeting last February over the proposed cleanup options and received a number of public comments up until the April deadline. After considering all the input, EPA decided to stay with its preferred cleanup option. That option - listed as Alternative 5 in official documents - will cost $1.2 million. It calls for drawing down the water level in what is called the Wedge Quarry Complex and maybe in another pit called Icebox Quarry. An 800-foot-long trench 8 feet deep lined with carbon would also be built next to Stout's Creek to intercept and treat contaminated spring water. Both actions will help reduce or stop PCBs from flowing into the creek. Four small springs on the site and the underground water (called ground water in environmental terms) that is flowing underneath Bennett's Dump are picking up PCBs leaking from electrical equipment disposed of there 40 years ago. EPA and state partner Indiana Department of Environmental Management concluded that if nothing is done, the PCBs leaking from the electrical equipment in Bennett's Dump pose cancer and non-cancerous health risks to people and animals who eat fish from Stout's Creek, which runs along the western border of the site. EPA's cleanup decision is contained in a document called a record of decision amendment or ROD amendment. The ROD amendment contains much more detail about the site and selected cleanup plan than this fact sheet. The ROD amendment and another EPA document called a responsiveness summary, which contains the Agency's responses to all the public comments received, can be viewed at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington. A large majority of the public comments supported the selected cleanup plan although a few individuals wanted EPA to pick the cleanup option that called for digging up underground quarries on the site. The Agency decided that option would cost too much for the little amount of extra protection it would provide. Next steps Actual cleanup work could take 18 months to complete and won't begin until EPA and IDEM finish negotiations with CBS Corp. (formerly Westinghouse and Viacom) to pay for the cleanup at Bennett's Dump and five other disposal sites in the area. CBS has been identified as the potentially responsible party for the pollution. The negotiations with CBS could be lengthy. If an agreement cannot be reached, EPA may have to go to court. A major housing subdivision called North Park is being developed two miles from the dump site, but homes are on city water and not affected by the pollution. Scientists looking at health risks in Stout's Creek, however, did assume that children will be wading in the creek and sunfish and suckers caught from there will be eaten. The selected cleanup measures are designed to make the creek safe for wading and fishing. ------- ICE BOX QUARRY Sate I lite Are a GRAVEL ACCESS ROAD WEDGE QUARRY This map shows the quarries that are part of the selected cleanup plan for Bennett's Dump. About Bennett's Dump A former Westinghouse Corp. capacitor plant in Bloomington used part of Bennett's Limestone Quarry during the 1960s to dump parts containing PCBs. The dump site covers about 4 acres, 2!/2 miles northwest of Bloomington. EPA investigated the site in 1983, and the Agency took immediate cleanup measures such as erecting a fence, removing capacitors and capping the area with clay and topsoil. The dump site was placed on EPA's Superfund list in 1984. An initial cleanup plan for Bennett's Dump called for an on-site incinerator to burn PCB-contaminated waste, but public opposition stopped that plan. In 1999, PCB- contaminated soil and creek mud were dug up and disposed of in an off-site landfill or burned in a Texas incinerator. However, testing done after the cleanup showed even deeper pockets of PCBs are polluting underground water supplies and the four springs that run through the dump site. This latest cleanup plan is meant to supplement the 1999 cleanup and manage the ground water contamination. ------- |