EAST CHICAGO | Federal environmental regulators want to add an old East Chicago lead refinery to a list of national sites posing human health and environmental risks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended that the former site of the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. make the Superfund National Priorities List, a tally of the nation's most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites.

EPA officials said Wednesday they believe the site will make the list.

Over the years, the site has presented elevated levels of lead from blast furnace slag and has exceeded limits for cadmium, arsenic and zinc, according to the EPA. The company faced state and federal enforcement actions in the 1980s, according to the EPA.

The 79-acre site has undergone various remediation efforts since shuttering in 1985.

The EPA originally recommended the site for Superfund status 16 years ago but instead began clean-up efforts under a different federal program. In 1996, hazardous material at the site was consolidated from three closed waste dumps and capped.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has been monitoring that cleanup, which "is doing its job," EPA remedial project manager Michael Berkoff said.

EPA officials think the current contamination stems from airborne lead emitted when the facility was active, Berkoff said.

During previous cleanup activities, regulators discovered high levels of lead outside and north of the facility in residential areas. About 15 homes warranted more immediate attention. That cleanup began this summer and nearly is finished, Berkoff said.

But more problems could remain at other homes, Berkoff said.

"We do feel like there may be some yards we don't know about that could be of concern," he said.

More than 2,500 people live within a half mile of the site, according to the EPA.

The EPA is scheduled to collect public comments regarding the site for 60 days, after which a more thorough investigation of the site will follow.