Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site Five-Year Review Process starting

This week, I (and presumably, most of the other households in south Scottsdale and north Tempe) received a notice from the EPA announcing the start of a Five-Year Review (FYR) of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site.  For most purposes, that areas has been divided into the North Indian Bend Wash (NIBW) site and the South Indian Bend Wash Site (SIBW).

A .pdf version of the FYR announcement is here.

The history of the site began with the discovery of groundwater and soil contamination in 1981, mostly of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) attributed to the disposal of industrial waste.  (more info available at the EPA's pages on the site, linked above).

The entire site covers approximately 13 square miles of Tempe and South Scottsdale, with Pima/Price Road serving as the eastern border, Scottsdale/Rural Road as the western border, Apache Boulevard as the southern border, and Chaparral Road as the northern border.  The NIBW/SIBW split occurs at the Salt River, north of Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe.

Anyway, the purpose of the FYR is to evaluate the effectiveness of the remediation efforts in the Indian Bend Wash site.  It is expected to be completed by September of next year (2011), and the EPA is looking for input from both people who have knowledge of the cleanup operations and members of the general public who have information and/or concerns regarding cleanup activities in the area.

If you are interested in participating in this process, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator for the site, Vicki Rosen, at 415-972-3244 or toll-free at 1-800-231-3075.  Her email is Rosen.Vicki@epamail.epa.gov.

Another point of contact regarding this site (for those who are interested) is Felicia Calderon, State Community Involvement Coordinator, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. She can be reached at 602-771-4167 or calderon.felicia@azdeq.gov.

More information on both the NIBW and SIBW can be found locally at Tempe Public Library, 3500 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ 85282 (SIBW) and Scottsdale Public Library Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (NIBW).



Have a good weekend!