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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Environment - "Ex-Dana site fueling fears; Angola eyes cleanup plan"

Becky Manley reports today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on the question of who is responsible for cleanup costs at the former Dana Corp. Site near Angola. (For background, see three earlier ILB entries on this issue, the most recent being this entry from Dec. 19th.) From today's story:

Angola officials have been invited to Monday’s Steuben County commissioners meeting to discuss a cost-sharing proposal to clean a former Dana Corp. site of contamination that could threaten the city’s water supply.

The permanent cleanup at 203 Weatherhead St., located within Angola’s city limits, could cost from $5.5 million to $7.5 million, Angola Mayor Richard Hickman said.

Currently, a hydraulic system prevents contaminated groundwater and oils from reaching Angola’s city water supply, but Hickman said that operation might shut down in early 2009 when Dana’s bankruptcy proceedings come to a close.

According to Indiana Department of Environmental Management records, Dana closed its Angola operation in 1993.

In 1995, the company entered into a voluntary remediation agreement with the state in which Dana agreed to keep the contaminants from spreading.

Dana operated a brass foundry and manufactured brass parts and fittings, IDEM records said. The site had at least two underground fuel storage tanks, an on-site wastewater treatment plant and a lagoon constructed before 1958 that remained in operation through at least 1973 until it was abandoned, according to IDEM records.

Dana’s agreement with IDEM was a factor behind the decision by Univertical Corp. to relocate its operations from Detroit to the former Dana site in Angola in 1997, according to a letter sent by Univertical President W. Chuck Walker to IDEM in August 2006.

The company’s relocation brought more than 55 jobs to Angola, Walker wrote.

Now, Hickman said, Univertical is poised to purchase another plant in North Carolina. At that point, the company could either bring more jobs to Angola, or the opposite could occur if the local jobs are relocated outside the state.

Univertical officials have made it clear they cannot afford to buy the North Carolina plant and pay for the local cleanup costs, Hickman said.

Hickman said he understands the position taken by Univertical officials and that the city would lose 55 “good-paying jobs” and still be stuck with a contaminated site if the company were to move. * * *

After Dana sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2006, it notified IDEM and Walker that it would shut down the system that keeps the contaminants out of the water supply. The company subsequently agreed to continue to operate the site’s remediation equipment, but Hickman said that may change when Dana’s bankruptcy proceedings end as early as late January.

Now, after two years of review by city officials, Hickman said a proposal is being developed that would split the cost of permanently cleaning the site among the city, county and Univertical.

As of Tuesday, Hickman said it hadn’t been determined exactly how the costs would be divided. * * *

However, before county officials agree to help, officials will need to know how county coffers will be replenished if Univertical were to relocate, Sanders said.

“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions that need to be clarified before we go into it.”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 31, 2008 08:13 AM
Posted to Environment