Consultants
Resources
The following are the topics and IDEM programs that may be beneficial to environmental consultants. More detailed information may be found by clicking on the provided link.
- Brownfields:
- The Indiana Brownfields Program, under the Indiana Finance Authority, is a voluntary program authorized by statutes to offer educational, financial, technical and legal assistance to address environmental issues at brownfields, with the goals of facilitating redevelopment, improving communities, and revitalizing local economies while being protective of human health and the environment per IDEM's Risk Integrated System of Closure (RISC) guidance. A brownfield is a parcel of real estate that is abandoned or inactive or may not be operated at its appropriate use and on which expansion or redevelopment is complicated because of the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, a contaminant, petroleum, or a petroleum product that poses a risk to human health or the environment.
- Emergency Response:
- All spills are required to be cleaned up. Notification via the 24 hour Spill Line 888-233-7745 is required for those spills that meet the reportable quantities in the rule or damage waters. Upon notification IDEM Emergency Response prioritizes spills and performs field responses on higher priority spills that cause or threaten to cause the most damage. While on site IDEM's staff will provide technical assistance and perform oversight to confirm the responsible party is conducting an adequate spill response. If the responsible party cannot be located or is unable or unwilling to perform an adequate spill response Emergency Response staff may use state funds to conduct a spill response. In such cases the agency may attempt to recover its costs from the responsible party.
- Environmental Consultants List:
- This list is comprised of Environmental Consultants who have requested that their names be made available to companies needing testing assistance in the State of Indiana.
- Environmental Sampling:
- The Chemistry Services Section staff provide chemistry related technical, scientific and field related services and support to the Office for the characterization and closure of contaminated sites as well as the permitting of regulated facilities. Staff perform evaluations of technical documents and validate analytical data in support of the remediation of environmental sites. Staff Provide technical expertise to the Office, the Agency, regulated community and the general public. Staff conduct field work including sampling events, site visits and field sampling audits.
- Excess Liability Trust Fund:
- The Excess Liability Trust Fund (ELTF) Technical Section manages the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) releases that have been determined to be eligible for reimbursement from the ELTF Program. The ELTF Technical Section provides technical oversight to the responsible party and their environmental consultant, as well as the ELTF Program claims review staff.
- Federal Programs:
- Superfund Program: The goal of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Superfund Program is to reduce or eliminate risk to human health and the environment, by assisting and overseeing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at 39 hazardous waste sites on the National Priorities List, so that these sites are available for beneficial reuse to the greatest extent possible. Eight (8) of the 39 sites in Indiana have been delisted from the National Priorities List, but are still subject to review and maintenance. There are many different types of NPL sites, including current and former chemical and manufacturing plants; rail yards; smelter sites; landfill and dump sites; and sediment sites. These sites are typically large and complex, requiring long-term investigations and cleanups lasting 15 to 30 years or more.
- Defense Environmental Restoration Program: The goal of the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) is to oversee and assist the Department of Defense, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the investigation and cleanup of seven (7) active or closing military installations, eleven (11) Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS), and one (1) Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) Site at which hazardous substances and/or petroleum products were used, stored, or disposed of during past operations, such that human health and the environment are protected and economic redevelopment can occur. Many of these sites are large and complex requiring long-term investigations and cleanups lasting 15 to 30 years or more. These sites follow the same investigation and cleanup process as the federal Superfund Program.
- Geological Services:
- The OLQ Geological Services Section primarily provides quality professional geological advice to various IDEM remediation programs, the public, other state agencies, and environmental professionals.
- Geological Services determines groundwater flow parameters (including contaminant travel times and directions); effectiveness of monitoring well networks (including compliance with IDNR well installation rules), and evaluates the interactions of contaminated soils with groundwater to determine soil and ground water remediation system effectiveness. Geological Services staff explore sites for features which influence contaminant migration e.g. karst, sediments, bedrock, and topography. The section staff reviews and evaluates proposed remediation technologies; develops and interprets technical guidance, and assists enforcement when needed.
- Leaking Underground Storage Tanks:
- Environmental Consultants and Contractors represent underground storage tank (UST) owners and operators when there is a release from a UST system, spill or overfill that requires a response action. These companies report the releases to IDEM, conduct subsurface investigations, clean-up the contamination, and draft reports and plans documenting these activities. The subsurface investigations are performed to determine the nature and extent of contamination including determination of the contaminants of concern, vertical and horizontal extent in soil and groundwater, assessment of pathways and receptors. In addition, when necessary, they clean-up the contamination through various methods including treatment or removal of the contamination along with monitoring to ensure the effectiveness and completion of the cleanup. Once a cleanup is completed, IDEM issues a "no further action" determination.
- These companies perform other activities at times including, but not limited to, negotiating with of-site property owners to gain access for investigation and cleanup, preparation of claims for reimbursement from the Excess Liability Trust Fund (ELTF) for cleanup costs, and identification of other fund sources such as insurance monies and contribution from other responsible parties, and preparation of Environmental Restrictive Covenants for land use and activity restrictions.
- RISC: Risk Integrated System of Closure:
- The Risk Services Section (1) facilitates development of risk-based closure policy and guidance to provide a clear and consistent regulatory approach for the screening, characterization, and closure of contaminated soil and ground water; (2) provides technical and policy advice, training, commentary, trouble-shooting, and creative solution options to project managers in the office remediation programs who are working with the regulated community; and (3) provides advice on agency policies and requirements to members of the regulated community to assist in achieving closure of contaminated soil and ground water.
- Site Investigations:
- The Site Investigation (SI) Program within the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) was established in 1983. Its mission is to fulfill the assessment portion of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 or Superfund Program for the state of Indiana. Although some activities in the section have changed since 1983, the mission remains the same - assess potential hazardous waste sites and prioritize them for cleanup, according to their impact to human health and/or the environment. Site Investigation performs various assessments and investigations of sites and facilities throughout the state.
- Investigations are conducted in order to evaluate sites for their potential to be placed on the National Priorities List or to be referred to another cleanup program that better suits. Site investigations include assessing conditions or practices at a site to determine whether they do presently, or may likely in the future, contribute to environmental contamination from a variety of potential sources. Assessments also evaluate possible targets in the area that may be affected by any discovered contamination.
- State Cleanup:
- The State Cleanup Section (SCS) is responsible for the management of long-term remediation (cleanup) projects that are excluded from the federal Superfund Program. Although SCS is modeled after Superfund, it differs from the Superfund program in many respects. First, the SCS has jurisdiction over petroleum releases in addition to releases of hazardous substances. The SCS also follows aspects of the National Contingency Plan (NCP) as well as the reporting structure from the Risk Integrated System of Cleanup (RISC). Finally, SCS is a state administered program and has no federal involvement or funding. Examples of State Cleanup sites include petroleum terminals and refineries, abandoned landfills, dry-cleaners, unregulated underground storage tanks, former lead smelting and battery recycling sites, and other types of industrial sites.
- Another component to the SCS is the Immediate Removals Program. This program provides time critical removal of pollutants that threaten imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health and/or the environment. For Immediate Removal purposes, time critical is defined as action that needs to be initiated within six (6) months. The goal of the program is to separate the hazard from potential receptors. Please note that this program is intended to remove immediate dangers; not to perform a full-scale remediation effort.
- Underground Storage Tanks:
- The Underground Storage Tanks program is responsible for assuring that all regulated underground storage tanks meet the U.S. EPA's and Indiana's requirements for release detection, spill and overflow prevention and corrosion protection, and to insure that tanks not meeting those requirements are properly closed or upgraded. The section investigates sites with abandoned underground storage tanks and also educates and assists underground storage tank owners and operators in order to encourage and promote voluntary compliance.
- Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP):
- The Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) was established to provide any site owner, or prospective owner a mechanism to cleanup contaminated property. When the cleanup is completed, the IDEM will issue a Certificate of Completion and the Governor's office will issue a Covenant Not To Sue. These documents provide assurance that the remediated areas will not become the subject of future IDEM enforcement action, and future liability is limited. Participation in VRP can facilitate the sale and reuse of industrial and commercial properties.
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