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Sunday, April 24, 2005
Environment - Stories today
"Cleanup at NIPSCO site unlikely this year: State wants better remediation plan in place" is the headline to a story today in the Munster (NW Indiana) Times. The story begins:
HAMMOND | It looks like downtown's most polluted area won't be getting cleaned up this year, though not for lack of trying."County faces lead legacy" is the headline to a story today in the South Bend Tribune. Some quotes:Six-foot security fencing cordons off the site on the south bank of the Grand Calumet River just west of Hohman Avenue, where century-old toxins permeate the soil and adjacent river-bottom sediment.
NIPSCO, owner of the property, submitted a cleanup plan to state regulators last year, but it was returned as not good enough.
"Technically, this is a very complex site," said Richard Harris, project manager with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. "We want to make sure any remediation is done correctly."
NIPSCO forerunner Northern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. opened its manufactured gas plant, or MGP, on the property in 1901. The facility made natural gas out of coal to run generators that produced electricity for homes and businesses as far away as Michigan City by 1912.
The process also produced large quantities of cancer-causing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic volatile organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, pyrene and xylene, which remain as deep as 20 feet below the river sediments.
The plant ceased production in 1929, but the property was used by NIPSCO for vehicle maintenance and storage until 1980.
The Hammond site is one of 36 MGPs in Indiana -- 13 of them owned by NIPSCO -- enrolled in the state Voluntary Remediation Program, which provides expert assistance to property owners in reducing risks associated with contaminants as they relate to human health and the environment.
From urban neighborhoods to far-flung hamlets, St. Joseph County is struggling with the legacy of lead.An average of 100 children per year are being diagnosed with lead poisoning in the county, the St. Joseph County Health Department said -- with only 10 percent of the most at-risk population, age 6 and younger, being tested.
In 2001 alone, 217 children had dangerous lead levels in their blood.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says every child in the county faces the risk of lead poisoning, because of where they live or spend their time.
South Bend poses the biggest problem. About 88 percent of the city's housing was built before 1978, when lead was banned as a paint additive. About half of the city's homes were built before 1950.
The outlying towns of Walkerton, North Liberty, Lakeville, New Carlisle and Osceola are also "high-risk areas" for lead exposure because of their older housing stock, the health department said. No testing or outreach has begun there yet. * * *
Lead exposure comes from a variety of sources: dust created by peeling paint, household surfaces rubbing together, such as windows and doors, or soil tainted by paint chips falling from a home. Home renovations can stir up lead dust, too, unless the proper steps are taken.
A recent study found a possible link between summer winds kicking up dirt in urban neighborhoods and spikes in the rate of lead poisoning among children.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 24, 2005 08:02 PM
Posted to Environment