EPA takes landlord, others to court to remove lead- and arsenic-tainted soil from properties

June 05-- Jun. 5--HAMMOND -- The Environmental Protection Agency has again asked a federal judge to grant it access to properties in the USS Lead Superfund site, this time to excavate soil contaminated with lead and arsenic and possibly conduct further sampling.

The agency is seeking access to three properties, including one at 4805 Grasselli St. occupied by tenants and owned by a woman who may have attempted to evade EPA staff and refused to sign an access agreement, records show.

EPA in September 2018 sought warrants to collect soil samples at nine properties and completed that work in November 2018, according to U.S. District Court records.

Five of those nine properties require remediation, an EPA spokeswoman said. Two owners have voluntarily signed access agreements.

The agency is now seeking warrants to remove soil and conduct further testing, if necessary, at the remaining three properties. If the warrants are granted, EPA also will restore excavated areas and maintain new grass for 30 days.

The owner of the Grasselli Street property, Carmen Hurtado, may have attempted to evade EPA staff, records say.

After executing the warrant to take soil samples at Hurtado's property, EPA staff attempted to contact her to advise her of the need for a cleanup.

On at least two occasions, EPA staff spoke with a woman believed to be Hurtado despite the woman's claims to be someone else, records say.

Hurtado at one point told EPA staff her insurance agent advised her against granting the agency access to her property. She also claimed the building was vacant, though EPA has observed tenants living there in recent years, records say.

EPA contacted Hurtado's insurance agent, who denied advising Hurtado not to grant EPA access to the property, records say.

EPA also is seeking access to 4902-04 Ivy St., which is owned by the late Ulie Alford and appears abandoned. Repeated efforts to reach Alford's relatives were unsuccessful, records say.

A property at 4907 Drummond St. also appears abandoned, and efforts to reach owners Oswald B. Martinez and Cynthia A. Martinez were unsuccessful, according to court records. EPA staff visited the home multiple times, sent letters to several of the couple's possible addresses and called possible relatives.

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