In its last few years of operation, Continental Steel had encountered problems with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to alleged improper disposal of hazardous wastes and PCBs, and in March 1989, the 183 acres area that it had occupied was declared a Superfund site, with the EPA and IDEM sharing responsibilities for a massive, costly cleanup which would include the decontamination and demolition of its plant buildings in 1999–2000.