East Chicago residents, U.S. EPA raise concerns over plans to expand hazardous waste facility

Residents in East Chicago and the U-S Environmental Protection Agency are asking the state to deny a hazardous waste facility’s plans to expand.

Tradebe Treatment and Recycling, LLC said it needs more room to store waste. Shutdowns at incinerators, an uptick in manufacturing, and labor shortages caused by the pandemic have created a backlog of hazardous waste — forcing incinerators to hold on to it longer than what’s allowed.

Tradebe has asked the state for a new facility to store waste that’s usually held for 10 days for 180 days. It also wants to hold onto waste at its other East Chicago facilities for longer than a year — which isn’t allowed in its current permit.

But the EPA said these limits are there for a reason. The containers that store this waste have thin walls and can easily get punctured by forklifts or break open if they’re knocked over — leading to leaks.

Leigh Johnson is with the University of Chicago’s Abrams Environmental Law Clinic — which represents residents affected by the USS Lead Superfund site close to Tradebe. She said residents also worry about the air pollution coming from the facility and trucks carrying in more hazardous waste.

“So there are a number of concerns beyond just the containers themselves, which are not designed to store waste for that longer amount of time," Johnson said.

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The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has cited Tradebe for at least 12 violations in the past five years for how it handles hazardous waste.

The EPA also expressed concerns about bringing more pollution into an area that already has environmental issues with lead and arsenic from the USS Lead Superfund site – as well as air pollution from other other industrial plants. The agency said IDEM needs to consider the cumulative impacts to the communities like East Chicago.

Martiza Lopez is with the East Chicago Calumet Coalition Community Advisory Group for the USS Lead site. She said she's had issues with her lungs since she was a kid and recently found out that she has a blockage in her lungs.

“We're at a point where it's like we can't let the community get affected even more health-wise," she said.

Lopez hopes that the city of East Chicago will also get involved and work to monitor these companies.

In an email statement, Tradebe said it looks forward to partnering with stakeholders as it invests millions of dollars into its employees, the facility, and East Chicago:

"Tradebe is working with state and federal regulators, city leaders as well as the community to make the facility more efficient, more effective as well as a to make Tradebe a valued neighbor."

The public has until April 14 to comment on Tradebe’s proposal to expand.

Written comments may be sent to:

Ms. Debbie O’Brien, Senior Environmental Manager

IDEM Hazardous Waste Permit Section

Office of Land Quality

100 North Senate Avenue, Room 1101

Indianapolis, IN 46204

You can also call with comments at 317-234-0162 or email at dobrien@idem.in.gov.

Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.

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