ROACHDALE, Ind. — A Putnam County landfill is expected to receive about 100 truckloads of contaminated soil from Ohio.
"The challenge is it has to go somewhere. It doesn't just go away by itself," said Dr. Gabriel Filippelli, executive director of IU Environmental Resilience Institute and a Chancellor’s Professor of Earth Sciences at IUPUI.
Heritage Environmental landfill has EPA citations for violations.
Filippelli has seen the citation.
"One of them is for release or potential release of materials to the air, water or soil," said Filippelli.
The nature of the violation is vague.
According to the EPA's website, a written informal action was taken, once on Oct. 30, 2019, then another on Nov. 25, 2020.
Also, the landfill has had an ongoing violation for 12 straight quarters. No penalties were ever assessed.
13News reached out to Heritage for an explanation but have not yet heard back.
While Filippelli said he's relatively confident the 50-year-old company can handle hazardous waste disposal, there is a concern.
"I cringe a little bit to think of this material in a landfill just sitting there because most landfills eventually fail. When they fail, then you maybe have this hidden release of materials and this mixture of toxins that may be in that landfill," said Filippelli.
Filippelli also said when materials do leak in the subsurface, it takes a long time to be transported.
"I don't know if the human exposure issue is a big concern, but of course, it can affect birds and bees and plants that are around that area if there are releases," said Filippelli.
Filippelli said Hoosiers may not realize there are hazardous wastes all around us.
"Even right here in Indianapolis, where some of our neighborhoods have elevated lead levels in the soils. So, we're surrounded by these things, and I think you just have to prioritize. The problem with this particular accident is its very high profile and all of that material is going to be trucked over," said Filippelli.