CBU Submits Application for Voluntary Remediation Program

Bloomington, Ind. -  After finding a trace presence of lead in soil samples on City property at the former Dyer water tank earlier this year, City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) has submitted an application for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) Voluntary Remediation Program. Sampling results indicated levels of lead in the soil ranging from 50.7 to 1530 milligrams per kilogram (mg/Kg). The IDEM limit for residential areas is 400 mg/Kg.

Through the Voluntary Remediation Program, the City will submit results from testing and a proposed remediation plan to the State. IDEM will then either approve the plan or provide an amended plan.

Testing also was completed on non-City property adjacent to the fenced perimeter of the Dyer tank, and soil samples detected no lead above EPA residential screening levels.

Dyer tank operated between 1954 and 2015, when it was taken out of service and dismantled. The contamination discovery was made when CBU employees conducted routine soil sampling in anticipation of reusing the site. The location is fenced and currently unused. Contamination is very likely the result of historical sandblasting of lead paint that had been conducted over decades on the exterior of the former tank to prepare it for repainting. According to IDEM, this is not unusual with tanks from this era.

The contaminated soil does not present a danger if left undisturbed. Once the scope of the contamination is determined, the soil will be removed and disposed of according to IDEM protocols, and new soil will be brought in to replace it.

CBU owns and maintains four more water tanks that were constructed before lead paint was banned in 1978, including West tank on Loesch Road, East tank on SR 446, Redbud tank at 17th Street and SR 45/46, and the South tank located adjacent to the CBU Service Center at Henderson and Miller Drive. Soil contamination testing will be completed at each site, and IDEM-approved remediation will be conducted if necessary. All tanks are fenced and not available for public access.

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