nvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
For more information
For questions, comments or
information about the cleanup at the
Advance Plating site you can
contact these EPA team members:
For technical questions:
Shelly Lam
EPA On-Scene Coordinator
317-308-3073
lam.shellv@epa.gov
For general questions:
Susan Pastor
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator
312-353-1325
pastor.susan@epa.gov
EPA toll-free:
800-621-8431, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30
p.m., weekdays
On the Web:
www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/ad
vanceplating
Read the documents:
You can review the official
documents at the site repository
located at:
Indianapolis-Marion County
Public Library
Garfield Park Branch
2502 Shelby St.
Indianapolis
EPA Removes Dangerous
Chemicals from Building
Advance Plating Site
Indianapolis, Indiana	December 2011
Contractors under the oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency have begun a cleanup at the former Advance Plating Works site
that involves removing hundreds of containers holding hazardous
chemicals and preventing future trespassing on the property. The EPA is
authorized to spend up to $913,000 on the project under the Agency's
emergency cleanup authority for sites that pose an imminent health threat
to the public if left uncontrolled. The cleanup project is scheduled to last
until March with short breaks during that period due to conflicts with
another EPA activity and the city's preparations for the Super Bowl.
An EPA emergency responder inspected the site at 1005 E. Sumner Ave.
in Indianapolis on Sept. 20 at the request of the Marion County Public
Health Dept. Drums, bins, plating vats and other containers were found
inside and outside the facility buildings. Many drums were unlabeled and
in poor condition. Labeled drums included toxic, corrosive and flammable
materials. EPA documented 163 drams, 10 totes, five plating vats, five pits
and sumps, and hundreds of small containers that will have to be removed
or drained. The labeled materials alone included hazardous chemicals such
as sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, potassium, cyanide, sodium
cyanide, sulfuric acid, hydrocyanic acid and nitric acid.
It was officially determined the abandoned drums, many of which were in
poor condition and leaking, posed a health and safety threat to people and
continued on back page ...
An EPA inspector discovered dozens of containers holding hazardous chemicals
abandoned at this former metal plating operation located at 1005 E- Sumner Ave.
EPA contractors secured the property and then began removing the dangerous
materials in mid-December in a project that is scheduled to last until March.

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... continued from front
the environment.
In addition, there was also a threat of fire or explosion
from improperly stored flammable materials in a
building where trespassing had occurred. A section of
wooden fence had been pulled down, overhead doors in
the rear of a building were open, and metal piping
hanging over vats had been vandalized.
Cleanup plan
After the September inspection, EPA and its
contractors in coordination with the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management secured the
site from further trespassing and began to organize for
the main cleanup work that began in mid-December.
The cleanup will involve cataloging and separating the
drums and containers and collecting samples for
laboratory analysis. Contractors will then remove the
drums and containers and drain the vats and take the
materials to a licensed disposal site. Workers will also
dismantle and decontaminate processing equipment,
repair damaged fencing and install additional fencing
where gaps exist.
Residents will see workers wearing hazardous material
suits. A health and safety plan will be followed that
protects both workers and residents from exposure to
the hazardous substances. Air monitoring around the
site will ensure hazardous fumes do not escape from the
location. If a responsible party can't be found to
reimburse EPA, the work will be paid from the
Agency's emergency pollution cleanup fund.
Background
Advance Plating Works was a family-owned business
that operated as a plating shop beginning in 1912 until
2009 when the company declared bankruptcy. Former
operations at the facility included nickel, chrome, zinc,
cadmium and copper plating. The 3-acre site contains
two abandoned buildings - the plating shop and a
warehouse. The neighborhood is mainly commercial,
but a nursing home borders the site to the east and
several houses sit a few hundred feet to the northeast.
An EPA emergency responder checks out some of the numerous drums containing
dangerous acids and flammable liquids discovered in the abandoned Advance
Plating facility. The drums will be removed and the site secured during the cleanup
project that is expected to last until March.
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