MIDCO I

Overview

MIDCO I is a 7-acre Superfund site in Gary, Indiana, where a company stored, recycled, and disposed of industrial waste from 1973 to 1979. A fire in December 1976 destroyed about 14,000 drums of chemical waste. When the site was abandoned in 1979, thousands more drums were left behind. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in September 1983, which formally flagged it for federal cleanup attention.

Over 100 contaminants have been found in the soil, groundwater, and surface water at the site. These include volatile organic compounds like trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, benzene, and chloroform. Other contaminants include carbon tetrachloride, lead, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, pesticides like aldrin and DDT, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzo[a]pyrene. EPA determined that the amount and type of contamination pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment.

Early cleanup in 1981 and 1982 included fencing, waste removal, and excavating heavily contaminated soil. The long-term remedy added a final cover, a barrier wall, a sediment cap, perimeter fencing, and land use restrictions. Physical construction finished in March 2017. In 2022, EPA shifted the groundwater strategy from a pump-and-treat system to monitored natural attenuation, which lets natural processes reduce contamination over time. A 2023 inspection confirmed all protective measures remain intact and effective.

The most recent five-year review, completed in August 2024, found that cleanup actions are protective of human health and the environment in the short term. There is no known risk to drinking water. A 2006 Gary City ordinance required private well users to connect to the city water system or draw from a deeper confined aquifer. EPA has confirmed that human exposure is currently under control and that contaminated groundwater is not spreading beyond the original area. The City of Gary has included the property in a redevelopment zone for the Gary/Chicago International Airport. Final cleanup is still ongoing, and the site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List.

Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager. EPA also makes site documents available through its Superfund records system, including an administrative record with over 1,100 documents covering the site's full history.