The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a plan to clean up a cancer-causing chemical found in groundwater at the Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. Superfund site on the west side of Indianapolis.
Groundwater monitors detected benzene underground along South Tibbs Avenue near the 120-acre site at 1500 S. Tibbs Ave. The EPA said its plan seeks to clean up the chemical there within the next two decades.
EPA remedial project manager Dion Novak approved plans for contractors hired by site owner 1500 S Tibbs LLC to install 73 wells to inject compressed air underground to grow bacteria that will eat up the benzene. The process, called air sparging, is expected to clean up the benzene in eight to nearly 20 years.
The plan also calls for the installation of 43 new groundwater monitoring points and 24 soil gas monitoring points at the site and 12 new monitoring wells in properties near the site.
The well and monitor installations are expected to begin in late summer or early fall and will take about three months to complete. Crews will spend the next year ensuring that the wells are operating as planned and will monitor the groundwater until the contamination is cleaned up.
Novak said monitoring wells will help detect whether benzene trapped in the groundwater leaks into homes, a process known as vapor intrusion. If the chemical is detected, the agency may install a mitigation system or other method to address the vapor intrusion.
Site history
The Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. Superfund site has been on the EPA’s National Priorities List since 1984. Site owner 1500 S Tibbs LLC is a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based chemical manufacturing company Aurorium.
The site was used until 1972 to treat telephone poles with creosote, a substance that helps preserve and protect the wood but also is considered a likely contributor to cancer. Chemicals were manufactured at a plant there from the mid-1940s until the plant closed last April.
For more information, contact EPA community involvement coordinator Karen Chen via email or by calling 312-886-6009 or EPA remedial project manager Dion Novak via email or by calling 312-886-4737.
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This brief is adapted from notes taken by Documenters Alicia Reuter and Stephanie Duncan who covered the EPA open house May 6. Read more about what happened here.
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Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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