WET lands being emptied as IDEM cleanup continues

By Arthur E. Foulkes
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE July 07, 2009 11:33 pm

— Large tanker trucks are removing thousands of gallons of liquid industrial waste from the former Wabash Environmental Technology property on South First Street in Terre Haute.
In the spring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it had completed its cleanup of the former WET facility, which sits on dozens of acres of land between South First Street and the Wabash River.
The EPA oversaw the removal of large drums of hazardous waste as well as other materials, including insecticides. However, large liquid storage tanks, some with capacities of more than 1 million gallons, remained filled with waste materials on the southwest edge of the WET property even after the EPA’s work was completed.
The current cleanup effort is under the supervision of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, city officials said Tuesday.
“IDEM is in control of the site,” said Terre Haute City Engineer Chuck Ennis.
Amy Hartsock, an IDEM spokeswoman in Indianapolis, wrote in an e-mail to the Tribune-Star that the liquid being removed from the tanks will be treated at an “off site wastewater treatment facility” in Owensboro, Ky. Sludge from the tanks “will be properly handled and disposed of at an approved landfill,” she wrote.
Marathon Oil Company is voluntarily performing the cleanup, Hartsock noted. Marathon is paying for the clean-up so “there is no cost to the taxpayers of Indiana,” she wrote.
Each day, about 10 tanker trucks – each with a 10,000 gallon capacity – are hauling away the liquid, Ennis said. The cleanup is scheduled to be completed by the end of July, he said.
The above-ground storage tanks at the former WET facility “will be left clean,” Hartsock wrote.
As of Tuesday, a 1.2 million-gallon tank remained mostly full. At least two other large tanks at the facility also appeared mostly full of liquid.
“This is all good,” Ennis said of the waste removal. The liquid in the tanks has been there since WET was ordered to shut down operations more than four years ago by state and federal environmental officials, he said.
WET is a former wastewater treatment facility that operated for several years at 1331 S. First St. WET’s former president, Derrik Hagerman, is serving a five-year federal prison sentence for filing false pollution discharge reports to environmental authorities. Hagerman has denied any wrongdoing, asserting he was framed by former WET employees.
Meanwhile, a newly formed Terre Haute business is apparently making moves to operate at the former WET site.
“They have submitted an application to be a part of the city’s industrial pre-treatment program,” Ennis said, of a new business called ABBA EMS Inc. Businesses that dispose of certain hazardous materials in the city’s sewer system must obtain a permit, Ennis said.
ABBA EMS Inc. is listed with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office as being located at 1016 Poplar St., which is the address for PressTime Graphics, a company owned by Joseph Selliken, the president of the not-for-profit Osler Institute.
Selliken became a prominent player in Vigo County politics during the 2006 county elections, the 2007 mayor’s race and a 2008 election for judge. Selliken could not be reached late Tuesday evening for comment.
Cory Bradbury is listed as the “registered agent” for ABBA EMS Inc., according to the Secretary of State’s Web site. Bradbury, a former safety director for the Terre Haute wastewater treatment facility, also could not be reached Tuesday evening.
The WET property is owned by TDK Properties LLC. Hagerman is listed as the registered agent for TDK Properties with the Indiana Secretary of State.
Calls Tuesday to Kim Hagerman, the wife of the former WET president, were not returned by late Tuesday evening.
Operations cannot resume at the former WET property until a permit is obtained, IDEM’s Hartsock noted. No proposed permit has been submitted to IDEM, she wrote.
“Our concern has been with proper removal and treatment of materials from the plant,” Hartsock noted. “[T]he good news is that these materials are being addressed through a voluntary remedial project that saves taxpayers from bearing any cleanup costs.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com