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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Environment - Two (now three) interesting Indiana stories

Here are two interesting Indiana environment stories I didn't have a chance to post yesterday.

Open burning. From the Linton Daily Citizen is a story about state solid waste districts banding together to fight backyard burning. Some quotes:

A new statewide public education campaign against backyard burning with local leadership ties will be launched Thursday in Indianapolis -- the result of cooperative effort of 25 different solid waste districts.

Greene County Solid Waste Director Jeff Myers is heading up the Indiana Illegal Burning Task Force that is collaborating with the Indiana Environmental Management Agency (IDEM) and the Indiana Asthma Coalition in this effort.

Myers has long been a passionate advocate and vocal spokesman against "backyard barrel" burning. He says its time for everyone in the state to be accountable for this action that he called illegal and a prime public heath hazard.

Backyard burning of household trash has been illegal in Indiana since the 1960s. Unfortunately this outlaw practice is still widespread. It is a problem that affects everyone who lives in Indiana because it poisons our environment, harms our health and wastes our money and resources, according to Myers.

Sewer ban impacts. From the Decatur Daily Democrat is this story about a community working to get a sewer ban lifted so that new development may proceed. Some quotes:
Officials in Berne are hoping that improvements to the city's sewer system - those currently under way as well as projects proposed for the immediate future - will convince the state to rescind a ban on new development in the city.

Berne City Council on Monday approved the draft version of a letter that will be sent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management seeking a variance for a sanitary sewer construction permit for the Villas of Courtyard Lakes subdivision. IDEM previously had denied that permit because of repeated sewage overflows in the city and an overall lack of capacity at the wastewater treatment plant. * * *

[Kevin Allen of Encompass Engineering, the city's engineer] said that variances such as the one being sought by Berne are rarely granted by the state agency, "But in talking with some people there, they are anxious for us to undertake these projects. IDEM will hopefully view this as a good-faith effort to reduce our sewage problems," the engineer said.

Mayor John Minch, who has also been in contact with IDEM officials, said the state - if the variance is approved - will likely develop a binding contract establishing a timetable for the proposed improvement projects.

[Update] Air monitoring. One more story, this one from today's Louisville Courier-Journal, which tells how Louisville successfully competed for a grant to provide instensive air monitoring:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to provide as much as $267,000 for intensive air monitoring at a Louisville industrial plant believed to be the area's major source of a cancer-causing chemical.

The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, which secured the grant, plans to use it to place monitors along American Synthetic Rubber Co.'s fence line and analyze the results. It also wants to monitor for leaks in the area of the Camp Ground Road plant where the chemical, 1,3 butadiene, is transferred from rail cars into the factory.

The monitoring program is "a major step in terms of what we hope will be a comprehensive toxic air (control) program for the community," said Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson. * * *

EPA officials said Louisville is one of just 18 cities nationally to successfully compete for a total of $6million allocated by Congress for monitoring and assessing toxic chemicals and compounds in the air.

"This will help Louisville better characterize the air toxics issue, which will help them better address the concerns," said Doug Neeley, chief of the air toxics and monitoring branch of the regional EPA office in Atlanta.

The fact that Louisville had previously "done the groundwork" with other air monitoring for toxic chemicals and compounds gave the city an edge, Neeley said.

Readers may recall talk of the need for air monitors in Indianapolis in the "Indianapolis Neighborhood at Risk" stories published by the Indianapolis Star in late February and covered by Indiana Law Blog entries here and here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 12, 2004 11:02 AM
Posted to Environmental Issues