Dive Summary:
- Hazardous waste containing lead, arsenic and chemicals will be transported to a Newton County, Indiana landfill by Republic Services, at an estimated cost of $2.7 million for storage of the contaminated soil and concrete.
- Brandenburg Industrial Services Co. received approximately $4.91 million to dig and haul the toxic materials from the site, which was once the site of an oil refinery, an asphalt plant and a hazardous disposal facility.
- The cleanup was prompted by a runway expansion project at the Gary/Chicago International Airport.
From the article:
Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have said the pollution must be cleaned up, and have approved the 265-acre Newton County Landfill as a site where it can be safely dumped.
Airport authority officials initially thought it had 40,000 cubic yards of pollution, but the actual amount turned out to be closer to 120,000 cubic yards, spokesman James Ward said.
Sixty trucks soon will haul off the worse-than-anticipated ground pollution that has delayed the airport's runway expansion project until at least next fall.
