INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 

We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment. 

100 N. Senate Avenue • Indianapolis, IN 46204 

(800) 451-6027 • (317) 232-8603 • www.idem.IN.gov 

Michael R. Pence Thomas W. East~rly 

Governor Commissioner 

January 22, 2014 

Ms. Susan Hedman 

Regional Administrator 

U.S. EPA, Region V, R-19J 

77 West Jackson Boulevard 

Chicago, Illinois 60604-3507 

Dear Ms. Hedman: 

Re: 	 Proposed Inclusion of the 

North Shore Drive Site, 

Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana 

on the National Priorities List of 

Hazardous Waste Sites 

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is providing this 

letter to convey its support to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. 

EPA) regarding the inclusion of the North Shore Drive site on the National Priorities List 

(NPL) of hazardous waste sites. The ground water plume at North Shore Drive 

(CERCUS ID number INSFN0507828) has contaminated drinking water with 

trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene, trans-1 ,2- dichloroethene, and cis-1 ,2­

dichloroethelene in Elkhart, Indiana, and extends north of the St. Joseph River and 

south of Old U.S. Highway 20. The TCE plume encompasses an area of approximately 

16.368 acres and has contaminated the drinking water above U.S. EPA benchmarks in 

at least eleven (11) known residences. Fifty-one (51) private residential wells lie within 

Y. mile of the center of the ground water plume. 

The contamination in a residential well was first discovered in 1996. IDEM has 

since conducted many investigations in the area including several potential nearby 

sources. IDEM has not identified a definite source of the contamination and continues 

to supply and maintain carbon filtration systems on eleven (11) residential wells. 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 	 0
 (i) Recycled Paper A State that~ 
Ms. Susan Hedman 

Regional Administrator 

Page 2 of 2 

This site qualifies for inclusion on the NPL because: 

1) 	 The site meets the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution 

Contingency Plan (NCP) criteria for listing on the NPL, scoring sufficiently 

high pursuant to the Hazard Ranking System (HRS). 

2) 	 The site requires a long-term response action. 

An NPL listing would allow for proper and timely investigation of the nature and 

extent of the contamination of the potential sources and enable the U.S. EPA to 

determine cleanup alternatives for the impacted areas, thereby protecting human health 

and the environment. The NPL listing appears to be the most viable alternative for 

addressing the existing environmental problems. 

As the Commissioner of the IDEM, I am authorized by Indiana Governor Mike 

Pence to act in these matters on his behalf. I have considered my staff's 

recommendations and I fully support the designation of the North Shore Drive site for 

inclusion on the NPL. I request that the U.S. EPA assign a Remedial Project Manager 

and/or On-Scene Coordinator to implement the process. If you require any additional 

information or have any questions, please contact Mark Jaworski of the Federal 

Programs Section, Site Investigation Program at 317/233-2407 or via e-mail at 

mjaworski@idem.in.gov. 

Since 1~. 

· 

~U/t/ homas W. Easterly 

Commissioner 

TE:MJ:bl 

cc: 	 Denise Boone, U.S. EPA 


Nuria Muniz, U.S. EPA 


Rex Osborn, IDEM