PCB cleanup plan
before federal court
Officials still expect project at
Winston-Thomas site to begin later this summer
by Jennifer Jill Fowler
June 8, 1997
reprinted with permission of the Sunday Herald-Times, Inc.
An amendment to a 1985 consent decree that includes a PCB cleanup plan
for the old Winston-Thomas sewage treatment plant has reached a final stage.
The amendment, which has been approved by all parties in the agreement
- city, county, state and federal officials and Westinghouse Electric Corp.
has been filed with the federal court
PCB cleanup at the Winston-Thomas site is still expected to begin later
this summer, officials say.
"We really want to make sure work gets done at Winston-Thomas this
year," said Dan Hopkins of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"I think we've all met our deadlines in order to enable work to get
started in late August."
Westinghouse used PCBs, or polychlorinatedbiphenyls, at its Bloomington
capacitor factory in the 1960s and '70s. The chemicals, linked with cancer
in some studies, made their way to area dumps and the city sewage plant.
Under the court-ordered agreement called a consent decree, Westinghouse
was to incinerate PCB contaminated waste and soil. Public opposition stopped
the incinerator plan, and Westinghouse agreed to seek alternative cleanup
methods.
The amendment to the agreement includes two phases of cleanup with Phase
1 beginning in August land Phase 2 beginning next spring.
Phase 1 includes cleaning up digester tanks,sludge drying beds and piping
at the Winston-Thomas facility. It's expected to be completed by late fall.
Phase 2 is a larger project involving ocher contaminated areas including
a storage building at the site.
Before the plan is adopted by the U.S. Justice Department, it will be
advertised in the Federal Register so additional public comment can
be considered.
The Federal Register is a daily publication that contains presidential
documents, executive orders and notices of proposed rules regulations from
federal agencies.
Hopkins said notice on the consent decree amendment is expected sometime
next week.
The register also is available on the Internet. through the Government
Printing Office at www.access.gpo.gov. Go to the section titled Specialized
Search Pages to search the Federal Registerfor the notice. |
