HAMMOND — The former Federated Metals Property is officially a Superfund site.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initially proposed adding the property to the Superfund National Priorities List on March 27; the agency accepted public comment on the potential addition through May 30.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said the Superfund addition was "not unexpected," however he also said the EPA had not contacted the city about the designation.
"I haven't talked to anybody at the EPA for a long, long time," McDermott said. "We (the city) were blindsided."
Superfund designations are reserved for properties where "releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks," according to the EPA.
Federate Metals operated a smelting, refining, recovery and recycling facility along the Hammond-Whiting border in the Robertsdale neighborhood from 1937 to 1983. The 36-acre property emitted lead and other heavy metals from its stack, baghouse and waste piles.
From 2016 to 2018, the EPA sampled soils from 242 properties surrounding the Federated Metals site and found 163 residential yards had soil lead levels above 400 parts per million. The EPA recommends soil cleanup when lead levels exceed 400 ppm in areas where children play; 1,200 ppm is the federal cut-off for "non-play" areas.
Federal and local officials have known about the pollution for years, but the full extent of the contamination is still unknown.
The EPA estimates that 700 properties fell within the outfall of the contamination; about 600 of the properties are in Whiting.
In 1992, Federated Metals and its parent company, ASARCO, partially performed an EPA-required cleanup but filed for bankruptcy before the work was done. In 2009, a bankruptcy settlement agreement established a trust and an onsite landfill where demolition debris and contaminated soils had been placed was capped.
Residents voice concerns after EPA proposes designating former Federated Metals property a Superfund site
From 2018 to 2019, the EPA remediated residential properties in Whiting and Hammond where lead levels were above 1,200 ppm and a sensitive population, such as children, was present. To date, the EPA has remediated 33.
The start of a long process
Rumors of Superfund designations have been floating around the Federated Metals property for years. Though a spot on the National Priorities List brings an influx of federal funding and resources, the process can be lengthy.
McDermott said the cleanup could take "at least seven to 10 years." In the meantime the Superfund designation could harm nearby residents hoping to sell their homes. Some 22 of the 33 properties the EPA remediated were in Hammond. The city was told the remaining 90 contaminated residences would likely only be remediated after the site received a Superfund designation.
In 2019, city leaders decided to take matters into their own hands. Hammond began testing residential properties in Robertsdale and in 2021, the Common Council approved using $5 million of the city's American Rescue Plan Act funding to remove and replace the top 2 feet of soil in properties with lead levels over 400 ppm.
The city has remediated just under 50 properties to date.
"Now it's the EPA calling the shots in the area, but I'm glad we've done the work that we did," McDermott said.
In an April email to The Times, the EPA said that if the Federated Metals site was ultimately added to the National Priorities List, the agency would evaluate the cleanup work conducted by Hammond to determine whether more remediation is needed. McDermott said he has received no additional guidance from the EPA.
"There would be no reason for the EPA to dig up yards that were previously dirty but now have been cleaned up to EPA standards," McDermott said. "We mirrored the EPA cleanups exactly."
In an April email to the Times, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said a "comprehensive evaluation" will be conducted to determine the full extent of the contamination.
"This assessment will also include a review of all the properties that were remediated by the City of Hammond. Unless extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances arise, additional remediation work is not expected to be required on these properties," IDEM stated.
Remediated properties have been certified by the Hammond Department of Environmental Management, and the certification has been shared with the Lake County Recorder's Office.
Whiting Mayor Steve Spebar has said the city "simply does not have the financial ability" to remediate properties without federal funding. McDermott said the Superfund designation will ultimately make the George Lake area safer and more accessible.
'We've known about this for decades:' EPA proposes designating former Federated Metals property a Superfund site
"(The Superfund designation is) going to make a lot more money available to us than would have been available with the current process. I think in the long-term it's going to be a good thing," McDermott said. "Twenty years from now, property values will be higher. The problem is, it's going to take a long time to get there."
In an April email to the Times, the EPA said it "typically takes years" to determine how contaminated Superfund sites are. All residential properties included within the Superfund area will be sampled, those with high levels of contamination will be remediated.
"Any proposed remedial cleanup plan for the site will be years in the future," the EPA said.
The EPA also said the agency plans on conducting community interviews and will develop a community involvement plan. So far no public input sessions have been scheduled.
According to a document outlining why the EPA chose to add the Federated Metals site to the Superfund list, the actual boundaries of the Superfund site cannot be established until further investigations have been completed.