Water Quality. An interesting story Thursday in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel reported:
For years, public-health officials and environmental regulators have thought that human sewage and waste from agricultural operations played the biggest part in increasing the levels of fecal bacterial in the state’s surface water. Now a long and thorough research project in the St. Joseph River and its tributaries casts considerable doubt on that assumption.Superfund. The Gary Post Tribune reports:The results are so unexpected that it ought to influence the way water pollution is analyzed far beyond northeast Indiana. * * * The biggest culprits appear to be horses and geese, according to her findings.
[Deborah Ross, a professor of biology at IPFW] and the study’s sponsor, the St. Joseph Watershed Initiative, suggested that changes in landscaping could go a long way toward keeping the excrement of geese and horses out of the river. Neatly mowed grass adjoining rivers, lakes and ponds attracts geese, so letting vegetation grow higher around surface water ought to keep them away. That would have the secondary benefit of slowing and filtering run-off from farther away, too. Similarly, horse owners ought to take care to ensure that their animals’ wastes can’t be washed easily into ditches or creeks, either.
Eighteen months ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ready to scoop up and haul away contaminated soil at the defunct Calumet Container property in Hammond. Today, there isn’t a bulldozer in sight.Odor. The Munster Times reports:Uncooperative polluters, bureaucratic red tape, missing records and fighting among stakeholders have allowed the 11-acre site straddling the Illinois-Indiana state line to remain a public health risk and potential environmental disaster. Nearby wetlands, wildlife and Wolf and Powderhorn lakes are being threatened by the site’s groundwater and storm water runoff, studies warn. But the EPA’s use of out-of-court negotiations hasn’t persuaded alleged polluters to clean up the mess.
The EPA — which has $1.7 million in Superfund money set aside for a cleanup — may step up pressure later this year on companies and individuals who are possibly responsible for the pollution.
HAMMOND -- City Environmental Director Ron Novak spent about four hours in a hospital emergency room Wednesday following an inspection of a chemical treatment facility he traced as the origin of foul odors in north Hammond. Novak said the business, ProLiquids, located at 3 141st St., may be subject to severe penalties. ProLiquids owner Jerry Dykstra was unavailable for comment Thursday.Stormwater. An update today in the Munster Times on the Porter County Jail story, where native plants and grasses are being planted "to draw stormwater into the ground instead of becoming runoff in the Stimson Drain area south of U.S. Route 30."Hammond City Councilman Mark Kalwinski, D-1st, said he received several calls from residents Wednesday, particularly those in the Pulaski Park neighborhood, complaining of a foul odor. He then contacted Novak.
Novak said it was hard to determine the type of odor permeating about a half-mile-wide area bordered roughly by 141st Street to the north and 138th Street to the south and between Grover Avenue and Johnson Street. He said the odor smelled somewhat fishlike.
As Novak and Kalwinski drove around the area together, the odor led them to the doorstep of ProLiquids, Novak said. "As soon as I took two steps inside I got hit by an absolute overwhelming odor of ammonia," Novak said. "I ran out of the building all the way to my car 30 to 40 feet away. I can't believe I got exposed to that stuff. It absolutely stunned me."
He said an overhead garage door was open and releasing the odors outside. He said he ordered employees to close all open doors and vents. Novak said he became further troubled when employees were unable to produce the materials handling data sheet, which is required to be in a fireproof lock box on the premises. He then dispatched a fire rescue squad to the scene to secure any other release areas and conduct testing.
Landfill. The Evanville Courier&Press reports today from Elberfeld that: "Residents concerned about a proposed 635-acre landfill near this northeastern Warrick County town met Thursday to begin organizing against it."
Grand Calumet River Settlement. The Gary Post Tribune has a story this morning; the actual announcement is at 2:00 p.m. today. Check back here for details.
[Update] Here is the story posted at 4:13 p.m. CDT by the Munster Times. The headline: "Industries to pay $56 million for river cleanup."
Posted by Marcia Oddi at August 20, 2004 01:51 PM