Carter
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter says one company isn't doing enough to cleanup Shelly Ditch, a contaminated drainage ditch in Crawfordsville, and is happy the state's Court of Appeals agrees.
Last week, the Court overturned a trial court decision that prohibited the state's Department of Environmental Management from enforcing stricter cleanup standards against Raybestos at the site. Carter says the affirming of that decision would have cost taxpayers $16.4 million.
"A company's desire to rectify environmental damage with minimal cleanup standards harms the very people we serve to protect," Carter said. "This case is critical to ensuring that taxpayers don't have to choose between paying for stricter standards of cleanup or exposure to environmental harms."
Shelly Ditch extends more than 3,000 feet from a Raybestos plant and contains soil contaminated with elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (more than 20 times the federal limit) and lead. In 1997, the Environmental Protecting Agency forced Raybestos to decontaminate the area.
Last year, a Marion County Superior Court ordered the State to pay $16.4 million to Raybestos for a breach of contract. The dispute arose when the DEM did not approve the company's risk assessment and removal plan.