Former Mini-Mart on State Cleanup Agenda
Pilot News Staff Report
Four contaminated sites across the state have been cleaned up and removed from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management priority clean-up list.
The four sites are in Elkhart, Indianapolis, Boonville and Montpelier.
There are still 30 counties that have sites on the priority clean-up list, including Marshall County.
The local site is the former Mini Mart in Bourbon.
�The problem was some petroleum contamination from their fuel tanks got into the ground water,� said IDEM spokesman Keri McGrath. �The contamination spread beneath a railroad right of way and at least two residences in Bourbon.�
The site was placed on the list in 1990. IDEM has installed a pump and treat system to remediate the site. The system was first placed on the site in 1990 on an emergency basis to get the cleanup started.
In 1992 the system was relocated in order to clean the maximum amount of ground water/
McGrath said the system pumps 70 gallons of water a minute. Air is shot into the water to help evaporate the petroleum product in the water.
�It�s a very agressive system,� McGrath said. �This kind of problem didn�t happen overnight. It won�t be fixed overnight.�
Once the contamination is gone. The system will be removed. The site can one day be used again.
The Mini Mart problem is common across the state. More than 10 years ago the Environ-mental Protection Agency ordered all underground tanks to be removed. Over the years some of those underground tanks leaked, spilling various fuels into the soil and ground water.
There are a number of contamination sites on the priority list in Michiana, including seven sites in South Bend, one in Warsaw, one in Middlebury, two in Elkhart, one in Mishawaka, and one in Granger.
IDEM officials are pleased the overall number of sites on the list is decreasing. However, one location was added to the list in 2002. Hollywood Park in South Bend was added to the list of sites.
Once a site is placed on the list, IDEM officials work closely with local officials to have the site cleaned up in order to have it removed from the list.
|
|
| Community Calendar |
|
No events listed.
|
|
Interactive Calendar
|
