[CPEO-MEF] Indiana Ammo Plant's expensive insurance

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Ammo plant gets insurance
$25 million policy will drain reserves 

By Alex Davis
Louisville Courier-Journal (KY/IN)
January 20, 2005

The potential for a large-scale explosion or the discovery of toxic
waste at the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant has prompted the
site's managers to take out a $25 million insurance policy that
apparently is just the second of its kind nationally. 

The policy and related fees will cost more than $1.1 million, an amount
that will drain the financial reserves of the local group managing the
plant site, which is being converted into an industrial park called
River Ridge Commerce Center. 

The steep cost and the need for the policy itself were largely
unexpected, said Barry Steinberg, a Washington-based environmental
lawyer for River Ridge's board of directors. 

The Army initially promised to take responsibility for problems linked
to contamination at the site, Steinberg said. 

Starting in the 1940s, the plant was used for a variety of military
activities, including manufacturing gunpowder and packaging ordnance for
World War II. 

The Army remains in charge of a multimillion-dollar cleanup effort at
the plant. But Steinberg said local officials recently discovered that
the federal government won't take responsibility for certain kinds of
risks related to contamination at the site. Army officials could not be
reached for comment yesterday. 

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2005/01/20in/B1-ammo0120-6912.html


-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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