The Indiana Brass Site is located at 800 W. Clinton Street in Frankfort, Clinton County, Indiana, 46041. The Site is 5 acres in size, and contains the remains of a 85,000 square foot plating shop and foundry. The Site is located in a residential and industrial area of Frankfort, 0.2 miles west of the downtown area. Approximately 3400 people live within 1 mile of the Site. Residences are located 250 feet from the east property boundary, 800 feet from the north property boundary, and 600 feet from the south property boundary.
The facility caught fire on June 3, 2010. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) responded to the fire. The state OSC observed pits and drums relating to former plating operations. IDEM referred the Site to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).
During a Site visit on July 1, 2010 and a Site Assessment on July 7-8, 2010, the U.S. EPA documented numerous drums, plating vaults with unknown liquid contents, uncontained foundry sand, and other debris scattered across the Site. Numerous 55-gallon drums containing burnt and unknown contents were documented inside the building. The Site is currently vacant and open to trespassing.
The Site Assessment involved sampling surface soil, ash, contents of accessible drums, and suspected asbestos containing material on the Site. Analytical results from the Site Assessment indicated the presence of elevated concentrations of hazardous substances, as defined by section 101(14) of CERCLA. Lead was documented in Site soils at concentrations as high as 54,700 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and 884 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for leachable lead per the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP).
U.S. EPA started emergency removal actions on July 20, 2010 to stabilize the Site and prevent migration of contamination. Emergency removal actions included the following: establish site security and incident command post, including access control measures as appropriate; develop and implement a Site-specific Health and Safety Plan, including an Air Monitoring Plan, and a Site Emergency Contingency Plan; prepare a detailed work plan to accomplish the project in the most effective, efficient and safe manner; perform sampling and analysis to determine extent of contamination in soil; develop and implement a plan to control, contain, and remove highly concentrated contaminated soil; properly abandon temporary piezometers that may be acting as a conduit for migration to groundwater; and assess nearby residential properties for site-related contamination.
