The Galen Myers Dump/Drum Salvage site covers about 5 acres in Osceola, Indiana. From 1970 to 1983, operators accepted 55-gallon steel drums, emptied them by spilling contents onto the ground, and resold the empty drums. That practice contaminated soil and groundwater with trichloroethene (TCE), a volatile organic compound (VOC). EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 after inspections found leaking and deteriorating drums on the property.
Cleanup work followed a remedy selected in September 1995. Workers excavated and disposed of contaminated soil and drums off-site. In 1996, about 183 nearby residences were connected to public water to replace contaminated private wells. Groundwater is being addressed through monitored natural attenuation, a process that relies on natural conditions to break down contaminants over time. That process is expected to take roughly 140 years to reach drinking water standards. A St. Joseph County groundwater protection ordinance, in effect since January 1999 and revised in 2005 and 2007, prevents new drinking water wells from being drilled in the contaminated area without county approval.
In 2015, EPA found that contaminated groundwater was releasing TCE vapors into seven of 11 tested homes near the site, a problem called vapor intrusion. EPA installed vapor intrusion mitigation systems in those homes between August 2015 and May 2017. Follow-up sampling confirmed the systems are working. The 2020 Five-Year Review concluded that the remedy protects human health and the environment, and all exposure pathways are currently under control. To keep those protections in place long-term, an operation and maintenance plan for the mitigation systems must be developed and put into use. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management continues annual groundwater monitoring, which shows the contaminant plume is stable and not spreading.
The property itself was purchased in August 2005. A single-family residence and two sheds for a landscaping business were built there. As of December 2024, one on-site business employs 4 people. The site reached readiness for its anticipated reuse in September 2017 and has not yet been deleted from the NPL. The most recent five-year review was completed in August 2025.
Community members can review site records at the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library Reference Section at 209 Lincolnway East in Mishawaka, Indiana. Direct questions can be sent to the EPA's Remedial Project Manager.
