From 1970 to 1980, a chemical waste processing facility operated on a 14-acre property southwest of Seymour in Jackson County, Indiana. When it closed, it held about 98 storage tanks and 50,000 drums of chemical waste. The site was added to the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983, triggering a formal federal cleanup process.
EPA has identified 21 contaminants of concern, all found in groundwater. They include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, vinyl chloride, and chloroform. Heavy metals including lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc are also present, along with 1,4-dioxane and other organic compounds like phenol and dichloromethane. EPA determined that these substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment based on the amounts found and their potential effects.
Early cleanup work between 1982 and 1984 removed the storage tanks and drums and stripped the top 12 inches of soil from about 75 percent of the site. Private water supply wells within a mile of the site were disconnected and connected to the City of Seymour's public water system in 1985. Long-term construction of the full cleanup remedy finished in 1996 and included a capped landfill, groundwater and soil treatment systems, and land use restrictions. An updated groundwater treatment system replaced the original pump-and-treat system in 2011. Multiple consent decrees issued between October 1982 and February 1999 guided these efforts.
Human exposure across the entire site is currently under control, with no unacceptable exposure pathways identified. Contaminated groundwater migration is also under control, and EPA has stabilized the contamination with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Physical construction is complete sitewide, and the site achieved readiness for anticipated reuse in April 2008. The most recent five-year review, completed in January 2022, confirmed the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment in the short term. EPA is conducting its seventh five-year review, expected to be complete by January 2027. Zoning restrictions remain in place to prevent residential use and other land uses inconsistent with the cleanup level.
Community members can visit the Jackson County Public Library at 2nd and Walnut Streets in Seymour, Indiana, to review records related to EPA Superfund work at this site. The EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator and Remedial Project Manager are available for questions.
