EPA plans $320K cleanup of chemical plume near Columbus

GARDEN CITY, Ind. (AP) — The federal government will spend $320,000 cleaning up a toxic plume emanating from the site of a former Indiana gas station that Vice President Mike Pence’s family partially owned.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the underground solvent cloud threatens drinking water in unincorporated Garden City, just south of Columbus.

The Republic reports the EPA will provide filter devices for those whose wells are tainted with trichloroethylene, which is a carcinogen.

The agency will also track the solvent’s underground migration.

The plume was traced to the site of a former Kiel Bros. Oil Co. gas station. Mike Pence’s father was company vice president. His brother Greg was president when it declared bankruptcy in 2004.

Indiana officials initially found the company responsible, but reversed their finding in 2002.