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The South Bend Stamping site is located at 601 West Broadway Street in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. The site is located on the edge of an old industrial and residential area on the south side of South Bend. Industrial and or commercial properties border the site to the north, east, and west. Residential properties border the site to the south. The geographic coordinates for the site are latitude 41° 39' 34" north and longitude 86° 15' 16" west.
In a letter dated May 6, 2004 from Mr. Andy Laurent of the City of South Bend, Indiana requested assistance from the U.S. EPA in assessing real and or potential threats posed to human health and or the environment regarding the site. The site is part of the 140 acres containing 3,400,000 square feet under one roof encompassing both the former Studebaker Automotive Works and former Oliver Corporation. South Bend Stamping contains 39 acres and has 1,,500,000 square feet under roof.
South Bend Stamping was formed as a subsidiary to a company called Allied Products. Allied Products bought it from the defunct Studebaker plant in 1963. Allied Products was a company that bought old manufacturing plants all over the Midwest and tried to adapt them to different business ventures. Allied sold the SBS site to another company called EWI, who in turn sold it to another company called Tecumseh Metals. All eventually went bankrupt, with Tecumseh filing first and eventually Allied Products filing last in 1999.
The City of South Bend obtained the site through bankruptcy proceedings in 2002 after it had sat vacant since Allied Products bankruptcy in 1999. Other areas of the original Studebaker site remain and are currently occupied by other businesses. These areas will eventually be part of the City of South Bend redevelopment plan.
Emergency funds in the amount of $25,000 were authorized by the Federal On-Scene Coordinator on June 25, 2004 for the Emergency and Rapid Response Services contractor to secure various transformer rooms at the abandoned site. An additional $225,000 was designated on July 9, 2004 for purposes of initiating the emergency action.
The SBS property consists of eight buildings and concrete and asphalt-covered areas. The ten buildings are located under three separate roofs. The buildings were previously used for assembly and painting, pressrooms, steel receiving and storage, machining, die washing, spring shop, truck chassis assembly, tool rooms, maintenance, and heat treating.
Large concrete press pits remain onsite. Three of the pits had previously been steam cleaned. The remaining pits contain a petroleum-based liquid. Tunnels are located under some of the buildings.
During a site assessment performed on June 25, 2004, numerous steel and poly 55-gallon drums were observed onsite. In addition, large mercury switches and friable asbestos are located on site. Twenty transformers labeled as containing PCBs were also observed throughout all buildings onsite. Analytical results confirm the presence of PCBs in the transformer oil.
U.S. EPA mobilized the ERRS and START contractors on July 19, 2004 to begin emergency removal actions at the SBS site. The local fire and police departments were notified of site activities. Activities taken during this reporting period:
•Site set up. Establish a clean room for donning and doffing.
•Establish lab space for hazard categorization.
•Established a decontamination line.
•Collect and stage drums and containers in building 79.
•Collected samples of waste oil from 18 pits throughout the site for PCB analysis.
•Collected oil samples from 16 transformers not sampled during the site assessment for PCB analysis.
•Collected samples of wood and soil around the transformer rooms for PCB analysis.
•Collected samples of pipe insulation in two transformer rooms for asbestos analysis.
▸Transport and dispose of all transformers and capacitors found at the site
▸Sample, hazcat, and dispose of the 300 drums located at the site
▸Collect all containers containing various liquids and chemicals, sample and hazcat, and dispose of
▸Collect and dispose of all mercury found on site
▸Remove and dispose of friable asbestos near the fire damage area in building 86 where the roof has collapsed
▸Investigate the possible presence of underground storage tanks
▸Investigate tunnels that exist beneath the site buildings
See Planned Removal Actions
None
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