Case Summary: Agreement continues lead cleanup work and redevelopment at USS Lead Superfund Site in East Chicago, Indiana

EPA), and the State of Indiana reached an agreement with several potentially responsible parties (PRPs) that will allow for continued cleanup and redevelopment of the USS Lead Superfund site in East Chicago, Indiana. Under the administrative settlement agreement and order on consent (ASAOC), the PRPs will provide financial assurance to ensure funding for the cleanup should IDA not be able to satisfactorily complete the work, reimburse the Agency $18 million for its past cleanup costs at the site, and pay for future state and EPA oversight costs at the site.

Along with the ASAOC, the Agency proposes to enter into a prospective purchaser agreement (PPA) with Industrial Development Advantage of East Chicago, LLC (IDA), a developer who will perform the cleanup work on the site. The Agency will also issue a draft explanation of significant differences (ESD) to confirm that the cleanup work is required to meet industrial rather than residential cleanup standards for the area of the site that is subject to the PPA. On May 4, 2022, EPA announced a 30-day public comment period and in-person public meeting.

The communities within and around the site have historically been overburdened by pollution and have expressed concerns particularly about the health risks associated with exposure to lead. The cleanup work at the site addresses soil contamination of lead and arsenic from the manufacture and production activities of several industrial facilities between 1906 and 1985. Redevelopment at the site will result in the construction of a modern warehouse and transportation center.

On this page:

• Information about the Parties
• Information about the USS Lead Superfund site
• Overview of the settlement documents and explanation of significant differences
• Comment period
• Contact information

Information about the Parties

The parties to the ASAOC are the owners and operators, or the successors in interest, of the owners and operators of the industrial facilities whose operations contaminated the USS Lead Superfund site. Historic operations at several facilities including the former USS Lead facility, the former Anaconda facility, and the former DuPont facility contributed substantially to the lead and arsenic contamination at the site. The parties to the ASAOC are Atlantic Richfield Company, The Chemours Company FC, LLC, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc., and United States Metals Refining Company.

The former USS Lead Facility was first owned and operated between 1906 and 1919 by United States Metals Refining Company (USMRC) and between 1920 and 1985 by U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. (USS Lead). USS Lead is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mining Remedial Recovery Company (MRRC), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arava Natural Resources Company. Arava is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mueller Industries, Inc.

Atlantic Richfield Company is the successor to liabilities of one or more companies that owned and operated the former Anaconda Facility between 1912 and at least 1946.

Chemours is the successor owner by assignment of E.I. DuPont Nemours and Company, which owned and operated the former DuPont facility between 1891 and 2015.

Information about the USS Lead Superfund Site

The USS Lead Superfund site, located in East Chicago, Indiana, was placed on the National Priorities List in April 2009. The site includes part of the former USS Lead facility along with nearby commercial, municipal, and residential areas. The primary contaminants of concern are lead and arsenic.

The site is divided into two operable units (OUs), OU1 and OU2. OU1 consists primarily of residential properties and for administrative purposes has been divided into three zones (Zones 1, 2, and 3). Cleanup work in zones 2 and 3 is complete. The PPA, ASAOC, and ESD address the cleanup of Zone 1.

During the middle decades of the 20th century, Zone 1 was the site of a lead smelter and processing facility operated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. These operations, along with the operations of other nearby industrial facilities, caused contamination of the site with lead and arsenic. The Anaconda facility was demolished in the early 1970s, leaving behind in Zone 1 lead and arsenic contaminated soils. The West Calumet Housing Complex (WCHC) was built on top of the contaminated soil in 1973 and during the next forty-five years was home to thousands of residents.  In 2017 and 2018, the WCHC was demolished, and its residents relocated. The WCHC, the adjacent Goodman Park, and a utility corridor in the eastern portion of Zone 1 are referred to in the settlement agreements as “Modified Zone 1.”

In 2012, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for all OU1, which established both residential and commercial cleanup standards for arsenic and lead. In 2014, EPA entered into an agreement with certain PRPs to cleanup up Zones 1 and 3 under the ROD’s residential cleanup standards. After the demolition of the West Calumet Housing Complex in late 2019, the City of East Chicago signed a letter of intent with IDA for the purchase of a portion of Zone 1, known as Modified Zone 1, for the development of a warehouse and transportation center. In 2020, to accommodate either residential or commercial redevelopment of Modified Zone 1, EPA issued an amendment to the 2012 ROD, which provided for an industrial remedy to Modified Zone 1 if (1) the zoning classification changed from residential to light industrial, and (2) the property titles to the Modified Zone 1 were transferred to a person or company with plans to develop the area for commercial/industrial use. In May 2020, the East Chicago Common Council changed the zoning classification of Modified Zone 1 to light industrial. Following the rezoning, IDA signed the PPA with EPA to implement the ESD’s commercial cleanup standards for Modified Zone 1. The cleanup work will begin after IDA acquires the parcels and EPA issues the ESD.

More information is available from the EPA’s USS Lead Superfund site profile web page.

Overview of the Settlement Agreements and Explanation of Significant Differences

The ASAOC, PPA and ESD are being issued by EPA to ensure that remedial action is completed in OU1. The PPA and ASAOC will complete the cleanup work in OU1. EPA and DOJ use prospective purchaser agreements (PPAs) or prospective lessee agreements (PLAs) to address the liability concerns of third parties who want to cleanup and reuse contaminated properties.

Under the ASAOC, the parties are ensuring funding for the cleanup work for Modified Zone 1, which will be performed by IDA, the developer, under the PPA. The parties will also reimburse EPA for $18 million in past cleanup costs, pay for future state and federal response actions, and pay EPA and the state’s costs for overseeing the cleanup work. In addition, Arava Natural Resources Company, Inc., Mining Remedial Recovery Company, and Mueller Industries, Inc. are signing the ASAOC as “Additional Covered Parties.” The Additional Covered Parties will receive a covenant for the work at the USS Lead Superfund site and contribution protection. The Additional Covered Parties are waiving their rights under CERCLA § 106(b) to petition for past costs they may have spent to comply with administrative orders issued for areas within the site.

The PPA requires IDA to perform the cleanup work in the Modified Zone 1 area. EPA will oversee IDA’s work to ensure that development on the site will not interfere with the integrity of the cleanup work in Zone 1 or the cleaned up properties in Zones 2 or 3.

EPA is issuing the draft ESD to acknowledge that the contingencies outlined in the 2020 ROD amendment for Modified Zone 1, to allow for a commercial cleanup standard, based on rezoning and title transfer, as opposed to a residential remedy, has been met. An ESD describes the nature of the significant changes, summarizes the information that led to making the changes, and affirm that the revised remedy complies with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) and Superfund’s statutory requirements.

After the public comment period, EPA and DOJ will prepare a responsiveness summary. If EPA, DOJ, and the State of Indiana conclude that it is in the public interest to proceed under the terms of the PPA and ASAOC, they will notify the public and the signatories to these agreements. Then, once IDA takes title to the Modified Zone 1 property, EPA will issue the ESD. The PPA and ASAOC will become effective once the ESD is issued.

Comment Period

Beginning on May 4, 2022, the ASAOC, PPA and ESD are subject to a 30-day public comment period. Additionally, EPA is holding an in-person public meeting on May 21, 2022. More information on the public comment period is available on the USS Lead Superfund site profile web page and on the DOJ’s website.

Contact Information

For more information contact

Steven P. Kaiser
Associate Regional Counsel
kaiser.steven@epa.gov

Jamie D. Getz
Associate Regional Counsel
getz.jamie@epa.gov

U.S. EPA
Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604