Third Site is a vacant, two acre tract of land owned by Patricia Bankert, Boone Properties, and the Jonathan Bankert estate. The property is located approximately 150 feet east of Highway US 421 and approximately 300 feet south of the Enviro-Chem Superfund Site in Boone County, Indiana. The Northside Sanitary Landfill (NSL) Superfund Site is located approximately 350 feet to the east and northeast. Third Site is located along Finley Creek and includes a manmade recreational pond used by nearby residents for fishing and swimming. Finley Creek flows west from Third Site and flows into Eagle Creek one-half mile from the site. Eagle Creek flows south from its confluence with Finley Creek before draining into Eagle Creek Reservoir, which supplies approximately six percent of Indianapolis' drinking water.
Historical aerial photographs of Third Site (1950-1986) indicate that the site was used primarily for tank and drum storage, as well as truck parking. Testimony from former Enviro-Chem employees and waste haulers indicate that waste handling and disposal at Third Site was a direct result of operations at the Enviro-Chem site. Furthermore, wastes disposed at Third Site appear to be of the same type and origin (from the same commercial facilities) as the wastes disposed of at Enviro-Chem. Finally, Third Site is owned by the same individuals (Bankert family) and corporate entities as Enviro-Chem.
In 1987 and 1992, a consultant working for the PRPs performed individual collections and analysis of soil, groundwater, seepage soil, and seepage water from the Third Site. These inquiries confirmed volatile organic and semi-volatile organic contamination of soil at the location.
In 1988, a consultant to EPA collected additional soil, groundwater and surface water samples from Third Site and the surrounding area. Soil sample results revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (tetrachloroethene. 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and trichloroethene). Surface water sample results also revealed elevated levels of VOCs in the water adjacent to and immediately downstream of Third Site. Further elevated levels of VOCs were also found in surface seep samples and groundwater samples.
In 1999 and 2000, another PRP-led sampling effort took place as part of an EngineeringEvaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) investigation. Samples of sediment, surface water, soil, and groundwater were analyzed. The EE/CA investigation confirmed the presence of VOC contamination of surface water, sediment, soil and groundwater in the Third Site area and west of highway US 421. The EE/CA investigation also confirmed the presence of a concentrated area of DNAPL (dense non-aqueous phase liquid) contamination in soil and groundwater in the area of the berm south of the manmade pond. The DNAPL area extended over an estimated 4500 square feet and to an estimated depth of 41 feet. Additionally, groundwater contamination was present at levels above MCLs in two other areas outside the DNAPL area. The EE/CA report concluded that levels of contamination in groundwater and the DNAPL area pose a threat to human health. Also, the levels of VOC contamination in soils along the southern edge of Bankert Pond pose an additional human health threat. The soil contamination, along with the contamination of the DNAPL area, also acts as a continuous source of contamination to the surrounding groundwater.