***************************************************************** The following is EPA's summary of the Bloomington Consent Decree, as found in their August 1994 Community Relations Plan. CONSENT DECREE HIGHLIGHTS - EPA (extracted from EPA Community Relations Plan 8/94) After lengthy attempts to assign legal liability to Westinghouse regarding several sites in Bloomington, the City sued Westinghouse to pay for the PCB cleanup at Winston-Thomas. EPA followed suit and also sued Westinghouse for contamination at Neal's Dump and Neal's Landfill under the Clean Water Act and the IDEM. These statutes did not obligate Westinghouse to pay for the cleanup. Later, EPA amended their complaint to include CERCLA violations. Later, in December 1983, the Federal Court consolidated the separate suits against Westinghouse. Settlements negotiations ensued. In 1984, the parties prepared a Consent Decree which identified the cleanup activities for six municipal and industrial waste sites in the Bloomington area (Anderson Road Landfill, Bennett's Dump, Lemon Lane Landfill, Neal's Dump, Neal's Landfill, and Winston-Thomas Treatment Plant). These sites total approximately 650,000 cubic yards of PCB or contaminated soil. One of the requirements of the Consent Decree is that Westinghouse design and construct a high temperature incinerator fueled by MSW to destroy the estimated 650,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated material from the six Bloomington Consent Decree sites. Westinghouse is also responsible for disposal of the resulting incinerator ash. To meet this requirement, Westinghouse submitted applications for the construction of a hazardous waste landfill in the Washington Township area of Bloomington. If permitted, the incinerator and ash landfill must meet all applicable federal, state and local laws. Westinghouse agreed to accept responsibility for cleanup of the contaminated sites. The City and the County's solid waste were to be used as fuel for the incinerator. This was thought to alleviate the area of a serious problem, a landfill filled to capacity, with no place for local garbage. It would also help Westinghouse recover some of their costs for the cleanup as they could charge a tipping fee for processing garbage similar to those fees charged by the County at the local landfill. However, to date, the Consent Decree remedy has not been implemented and the sites have not been cleaned up. Realizing the difficulties associated with an incinerator as an implementable remedy in Bloomington, the Consent Decree parties agreed to explore alternative remedies to incineration. In February 1994, the parties officially launched a joint effort to assess alternative remedies, and outlined their plan in Operating Principles of the Parties for exploration of alternative remedies for the six sites addressed by the Consent Decree (Operating Principles). The community approves of the exploration of alternative remedies and that the Consent Decree remedy is not implemented. However, the community perceives that since the Consent Decree was signed, Westinghouse had too much authority in the negotiations process. Permit Applications In July 1991, Westinghouse submitted to the EPA and IDEM several environmental permit applications for the incinerator and landfill. Westinghouse must apply for several major permits covering all aspects of the incinerator and landfill including design, operation, emissions, air quality, ground water monitoring, and environmental impact (see Appendix D - EPA Information Update: Westinghouse Permit Application and Review Process, August 1991 - for more information regarding the permitting process). In addition to the permits, Westinghouse must also conduct risk assessments for the incinerator and ash landfill. Immediately following Westinghouse's submission of the permit applications, the Indiana State Legislature enacted Public Law 128-1991 (House Enrolled Act 1429) requiring that IDEM conduct a study of alternative PCB clean up technologies to incineration before permit applications for a hazardous waste incinerator can be considered. This legislation states that IDEM had from July 1991 to July 1993 to conduct this study. The deadline was extended to July 1995. Because IDEM is the lead agency for most of the permits, other agencies cannot review the permit applications until IDEM completes their review. In 1993 the Indiana State Legislature enacted Public Law 36-1993 (Senate Enrolled Act 389), which requires that a hazardous waste disposal facility (which includes incinerators) obtain a certificate of environmental compatibility from the State. A certificate of environmental compatibility may not be granted to a PCB incinerator if the incinerator will burn municipal waste as a fuel or if the incinerator has not been incorporated as part of the solid waste management district's solid waste management plan. These laws, enacted by the State, effectively limit the Consent Decree parties' ability to enforce the remedy outlined in the Consent Decree Consent Decree Revisited Progress regarding the cleanup of sites has reached an impass because no party has enforced the Consent Decree and the Consent Decree sites have not been cleaned up. The Consent Decree parties have jointly decided to make a good faith effort and explore alternatives to incineration. To explore alternatives, the sites must be characterized, data gaps identified, and additional data can be collected, if necessary. The parties have agreed to start the data collection process at the Lemon Lane Landfill and to continue the data collection on a site-by-site basis until all of the Consent Decree sites have been addressed. The parties understand and recognize the need for full public participation while exploring alternative remedies, and have agreed to provide information and openly exchange ideas with the public during the investigation of alternatives process. The parties, however, do not have an established time line for this investigation.