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Elevated Copper, Nickel Levels Turn Up in Samples

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 00:00 CST

By Aubrey Woods, The Tribune, Seymour, Ind.

Jan. 24--Higher than normal levels of copper and nickel have been found in soil samples taken from a site northwest of Medora where chromium hydroxide waste from a now-defunct plastics factory was placed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Those levels, however, are not high enough to cause any immediate threat to humans or the environment, says an official with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

"The final decision about what to do about it rests with my bosses," said Rich Molini, project manager for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Office of Land Quality.

Molini said the state also is working with the Environmental Protection Agency, the state department of health and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Agency to determine what to do with the site. "From what we've seen so far, its on top of the hill," Molini said. "It doesn't seem to be migrating its way down the hill and into Guthrie Creek. We (the state) have to prioritize because we have a lot of sites across the state."

Certain copper and nickel compounds can be hazardous to human health, Molini said, but what was found during the testing is higher levels of the elements of copper and nickel and not compounds.

"Those compounds weren't used at the plastics factory," Molini said.

Molini said the state began looking at the site, which sits atop a ridge near County Road 150S, east of County Road 1150W, last year after receiving information about the possibility of the soil being contaminated with hexavalent chromium. That search began after IDEM received a letter from state Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford. Steele owns property adjacent to the site, Molini said.

Steele also forwarded results of testing of the site to IDEM. Molini said those test results actually showed lower amounts of hexavalent chromium than those taken by the state in mid-November.

IDEM refers to the site as the Lida Jane Robertson site, because it was once owned by Samuel Wallace and Lida Jane Robertson. The Robertsons' former son-in-law, Tom Willcutt, was given permission by the state to dump the sludge from the former plastics factory. The property was sold to Harlann and Betty Peters in March 2004 by Lida Jane (Robertson) Greer.

According to a report about the site from Molini, an attempt to solidify the waste with lime was unsuccessful. The sludge was taken to an area known as the Gideon T at what was then known as the Willcutt Landfill. The Gideon T lies in an area Rumpke of Indiana plans to use to expand its Medora Landfill if approved by IDEM. Rumpke does not own the Gideon T. Rumpke of Indiana has plans to buy the Gideon T site and place the sludge in an encapsulated pit if IDEM approves that plan.

Molini said what IDEM has found during its testing of the Lida Jane Robertson site is likely the remains of sludge that was missed when it was removed to the Gideon T.

In June of 1980, the state board of health conducted residential well and spring water sampling after the waste was moved to the Gideon T, and Molini said there was no evidence of correspondence between the state and residents of the area, leading to the assumption no water quality problems were identified at that time.

Visits to the first disposal site have shown some blue-green colored material atop some ridges and in the upper reaches of ravines in the area. On Sept. 20 and Oct. 20, IDEM field screening at the site revealed higher than background levels of chromium, nickel and copper.

Molini also said allegations that liquids or sludge were applied to an agricultural ridge and lowland fields in the area have not been supported by visual and screening evidence.

Molini said the purpose of the sampling, which also included residential wells in the area, was to determine if the chromium sludge has migrated from the two-acre site and down into Guthrie Creek, where it could have an effect on fish and wildlife as well as humans.

According to Molini's report to the Region 5 office, the 640-acre section surrounding the site is sparsely populated and contains fewer than 25 people. He adds that the land's use is almost entirely wooded or agriculture.

Molini's report to the EPA also addressed citizen allegations that a borrow pit used by Rumpke of Indiana for daily cover on its Medora landfill was actually a chromium waste disposal area. The agency did so by conducting field screening at the borrow pit Oct. 4 and that screening did not show any higher than background levels of the metals of concern.

Molini said IDEM also tested surface water to the northeast of the Robertson site to look for any potential contribution of substances from the Medora landfill, which lies nearby.

Molini said that the Peterses might face certain restrictions concerning building at or near the site, and certain other activities such as logging might be prohibited with or without remediation.

IDEM also took water and soil samples from Guthrie Creek south and west of where the chromium waste was applied in the 1970s.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Seymour, Ind.

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Source: The Tribune (Seymour, Ind.)

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