Elkhart Clinic says the air inside its main site at Lexington Boulevard and Nappanee Street is again safe and they’ll reopen Monday. But they’re still looking for answers.
The health care provider closed the building in late January after vapors were entering cracks in a foundation wall. They’ve identified the vapor as coming from gasoline in groundwater running under the building from the north.
In a video shared on Facebook, Elkhart Clinic Chief Operating Officer Sara Koziel says the air is now safe for patients and staff, and they’ll reopen Monday morning.
"Our administrative team, including myself, we moved back in about a week ago, knowing that it was clear but wanted to instill confidence that we are working in the building and we're getting it ready for our patients to come back," she said.
Koziel says they still don’t know the source of the gasoline but they’ve hired a firm to install a system that captures the vapors from the soil before they can enter the building.
"And there are suction pits that are sucking that air in and putting it back outside, and at that point anything that would be in the air would dissipate, just like it would anywhere else," Koziel said.
Koziel says the Indiana Department of Environmental Management continues trying to find the source of the gasoline. A gas station is located across the street to the north.
An IDEM spokesman tells WVPE that the agency has ordered that gas station owner to investigate whether its tanks are leaking. They have until April 27 to give IDEM a report.
