Wabash Environmental Technologies, LLC (WET) and W.E.T. Waste Services, LLC (W.E.T. Waste Services) operated at the site which is located at 1331 South 1st Street, Terre Haute, Indiana. W.E.T. Waste Services transported, accumulated, and processed used oil and other materials containing hazardous substances at two main building at the Site. WET and W.E. T. Waste Services ceased operations at the Site after they received a cease-and-desist order from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) on December 17, 2004. The W.E.T. Waste Services building contains approximately five hundred 55 gallon drums containing hazardous waste, seventy 330 gallon totes, eight 10,000 gallon tanks containing used oils, and several laboratories with improperly stored chemicals including potentially shock sensitive compounds. Approximately 12 transformers that may contain PCBs are located outside the buildings.
WET operated a wastewater treatment facility in the southwest portion of the Site. U.S. EPA conducted emergency removal activities in 2005 to address the threat of release of hazardous substances from overtopping of those tanks.
On May 8, 2008, IDEM requested U.S. EPA assistance to perform a site assessment after the City of Terre Haute expressed concerns about the large volume of materials left abandoned in the on-site buildings.
On June 11-13, 2008, U.S. EPA and their Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contractors conducted a site assessment. The site assessment identified several hundred drums, improperly stored laboratory chemicals, large quantities of used oil, and potentially shock sensitive compounds in the laboratory building. Portions of the site buildings were deteriorated with leaking roofs, and there was evidence of trespassing throughout the site.
The Site is located in a mixed industrial, commercial, and residential area on the east bank of the Wabash River.
