EPA Lays Out $26.6M Cleanup Plan in Northwest Indiana

(Image courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has detailed a $26.6 million final remediation plan for most of the 440-acre former DuPont East Chicago chemical plant site. Delaware-based The Chemours Co., which spun-off of DuPont three years ago, owns the property that is contaminated by high levels of arsenic, lead, zinc and cadmium.

Following a 90-day public comment period that yielded 200 comments, the EPA increased the estimated cost of the cleanup from a $22.6 million November estimate. The EPA says it will now require the contaminated soil excavated on-site to be disposed of off-site.

EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp says "the cleanup at the former DuPont/Chemours plant helps pave the way for redevelopment opportunities in East Chicago that will bring jobs and economic growth to the community."

Around half of the site is a natural area maintained by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and a buffer area that was previously cleaned up. The property is located near the Grand Calumet River and the old USS Lead Superfund site where additional cleanup is ongoing.

You can connect to more about the site and the cleanup efforts by clicking here. A community meeting led by the EPA is scheduled for September 15 at the former Carrie Gosch School in East Chicago.