a day ago
EPA plans to test 250 homes near Federated Metals this summer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it plans to sample just over 250 homes for toxic soil, including lead, this summer primarily in Whiting-Robertsdale near the former Federated Metals property.
It comes more than a year after the agency added it as a Superfund site in late 2023, declaring it one of the country's most polluted properties — nearly 90 years after the industrial site first opened, according to the EPA.
Homeowners have to sign up with the EPA, before their yards can be tested on a first-come, first-served basis. EPA maps of the area — littered with green dots — note several yards tested before have shown high levels of lead or arsenic.
'It's upsetting,' said Julian De Leon, who grew up in Whiting and whose parents still live on Birch Avenue. 'It's dangerous and harmful. I've got kids, so I definitely don't approve of (the lead) and if it is here, we should move out (as soon as possible).'
The 30-year-old told the Post-Tribune Friday that he doesn't know if his parents have received communication about the lead testing, and he didn't know about it.
De Leon worries about families with kids near the Superfund site.
'It's upsetting,' he said. 'It's something we should be on top of.'
Nearly 10,000 people live within a mile of the former smelter in Whiting and the Robertsdale neighborhood of Hammond. The site is near a bike trail, parks, a church and Calumet College of St. Joseph.
Multiple residents near New York Avenue in Whiting did not know about the EPA's plans to test the area for toxic soil. David Pustek, a New York Avenue resident, said he hasn't received communication about testing from the EPA or city.
Pustek's property was tested about three years ago when new development came to the area, he said, including with private testing he had done. Lead was found in the soil, Pusek said, but he doesn't think it was a high amount.
'The other ones came up negative,' Pusek said, 'but I'm sure they would have said that anyway.'
Another Whiting resident, John Milch, said he also didn't know about the area's lead testing. Milch, 54, said he's lived in Whiting his entire life, and he's in good health.
'I think it's important,' Milch said about lead testing. 'People like me should know more about it. … When you live here, you see (industry), but you don't think much of it.'
The EPA did not respond to a request for an interview. Several agency representatives appeared to be on vacation. Whiting Mayor Steve Spebar could not be reached. His office was closed Thursday and Friday.
Critics, including David Dabertin, a Hammond lawyer and former regional director of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, have said that state and federal regulators failed generations of people who lived near the former facility.
'I would have had (your yard) sampled years ago,' he said Thursday. 'I wouldn't wait for the U.S. EPA. It's horrible.'
By contrast, he praised Hammond's approach to take federal money in recent years to remediate nearly 70 yards. It was 'unique and very admirable,' he said. 'They said, 'We're not going to wait.''
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott 'and I don't see eye-to-eye on anything,' Dabertin said.
'Time has born that out,' he said of the city's actions. 'Those people got those yards cleaned up.' Everyone else going to the EPA 'is going to be waiting a long time.'
Dabertin previously told the Post-Tribune that he confronted Gov. Eric Holcomb in April 2018 and asked why federal and state officials then allowed other lead-processing companies to operate on the same site.
McDermott said by text Friday that the city's efforts were '98%' if not completely done. However, the EPA's part could likely take 'a decade or longer.'
Located at 2230 Indianapolis Boulevard, Federated Metals was a metal smelting, refining, recovering and recycling facility for nearly 50 years along George Lake, which borders the Robertsdale neighborhood of Hammond and Whiting. Originally owned and operated by Federated Metals Corp. (FMC) the facility was sold in 1985 to HBR Partnership and was used by multiple businesses, including Northern Indiana Metals and Whiting Metals, before shutting down permanently in 2020.
Smelter operations like Federated Metals emitted lead, arsenic and other heavy metals from their buildings and waste piles, the EPA said.
Pollution at the site has long been a concern of the EPA. In 1992, FMC and its parent corporation, ASARCO, entered into a federal consent decree to settle a lawsuit brought by the agency stemming from alleged violations of environmental regulations. The company agreed to construct a landfill on the site and cover lead-contaminated soil with trees.
Soil samples taken by the EPA from 2016 to 2018 found 163 residential yards had soil lead levels above 400 parts per million, the level at which the agency recommends action — or soil removal. In recent years, the agency has found highly toxic properties with lead levels at least three times over that benchmark.
In 2018 and 2019, the EPA removed contaminated soil from 33 residential properties in Whiting and Hammond that had lead levels exceeding 1,200 parts per million or were home to pregnant women or children under 7. The city of Hammond launched its own soil removal project in 2021, funded with $5 million from the city's American Rescue Plan Act funds, and had cleaned up 69 properties by 2024, according to the EPA.
The agency also said that it needs public input for 155 properties already tested that have high lead levels in the soil. More information is expected to be released later this summer.
Lead is unsafe at any level, according to the EPA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ingesting tiny concentrations can permanently damage the developing brains of children and contribute to heart disease, kidney failure and other health problems later in life.
Long-term exposure to arsenic could lead to severe illness, including cancer. It's also linked to skin lesions, high blood pressure and elevated risk for diabetes.
