The U.S. Department of Justice is accepting public comments through March 13 for a deal it has negotiated to clean up a former chemical plant in West Indianapolis.
The consent decree would make 1500 South Tibbs Ave LLC, formerly Aurorium Indianapolis LLC, legally responsible for the cleanup of the Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. Superfund site at 1500 S. Tibbs Ave. The company also would be required to secure $4.7 million in bonds, credit or other financial backing for the cleanup and reimburse the federal and Indiana state governments a combined $133,867 for emergency response costs.
Freedom Smith, an attorney representing Aurorium, declined to comment Monday, Feb. 26, telling Mirror Indy the consent decree “speaks for itself.”
The plant has had multiple owners — and has gone by many names — over the past two decades. It also was previously known as Vertellus Integrated Pyridines.
In January 2021, the private equity firm Pritzker Private Capital bought the plant and renamed it to Aurorium Indianapolis LLC in July 2023, just before it announced the plant’s closure and laid off 159 employees.
Groundwater at the Superfund site is contaminated with benzene, pyridines, ammonia and other toxic chemicals. The plant also has been one of the leading emitters of particulate matter pollution in Marion County over the last decade.
In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency established a plan to clean up groundwater at the site by blasting pressurized air into groundwater systems to encourage the growth of microorganisms that would eat the chemicals over time. If finalized, the consent decree would require that process, known as biosparging, to be completed.
To submit a public comment, email pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mail your comment to Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz.