Lawmakers OK bill cementing landmark Lake Michigan ruling
Indiana lawmakers have passed legislation to embrace a landmark state Supreme Court decision affirming that the Lake Michigan shoreline is publicly owned and open to all for recreation.
Environmental Issues
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Indiana legislators pass bill seeking to deregulate wetlands
Indiana’s protections for certain wetlands would end under legislation state lawmakers approved in the waning hours of their session, even though the state’s own environmental agency joined environmentalists in opposing the measure.
Indiana lawmakers pass controversial coal bill
A controversial bill that would prohibit Indiana utilities from shutting down coal-fired power plants before May 2021 has passed both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly and is on its way to Gov. Eric Holcomb for his signature.
Signs opposing proposed CAFO hog farm vandalized
A dispute over a large hog farm in northern Indiana in the small community of Denver is getting nasty. Yard signs opposing the Miami County farm were removed and then returned with obscenities painted on them, the Kokomo Tribune reported.
Businesses increasingly feeling heat to disclose climate risks
The national and international conversations about the impacts of climate change have focused largely on initiatives designed to curb greenhouse gas and other potentially harmful emissions. But there’s also an increasingly popular business aspect to the conversation.
Thomas: EPA declares war against aftermarket defeat devices
Volkswagen’s recent emissions scandal triggered criminal and civil prosecution by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2017, Volkswagen’s estimated cost resulting from the scandal was more than $30 billion, and that number is growing. In the wake of this scandal, the EPA has declared “war” on an entire subindustry — aftermarket parts — and anyone who manufactures, sells or installs devices that allow drivers to tamper with their vehicle emissions.
Legislation, lawsuits used to combat Indiana’s lead problem as contamination cases persist
Organizations and individuals around Indiana have been pushing for a solution to the lead problem. The toxin is everywhere and exposure, especially in very young children, can cause lifelong cognitive impairment.
Environmental groups sue to speed up lake sturgeon status
Environmental groups in Illinois and Indiana have filed a federal complaint in hopes of forcing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a review that could designate lake sturgeon as a federally endangered species.
Right to Farm case ends with denial from Indiana Supreme Court
In ultimately denying transfer, a divided Indiana Supreme Court ended a dispute that pitted neighbor against neighbor and raised questions about whether the state’s Right to Farm Act was meant to cover an 8,000-head hog operation in Hendricks County.
Toxic Superfund cleanups decline to more than 30-year low
The Trump administration completed the fewest cleanups of toxic Superfund sites last year than any administration since the program’s first years in the 1980s, figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency indicated Wednesday.
DNR: Fish kill near Portage likely caused by ‘natural event’
About 200 fish that were found dead Sunday in a northwestern Indiana river likely died due to natural causes, state wildlife officials said.
EPA orders hazardous waste probe at shuttered E. Chicago site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a hazardous waste investigation at a sprawling former oil refinery in northwestern Indiana that was shuttered in 1973 and later was the scene of a major fire.
Judge limits ex-tenants’ claims of East Chicago lead-tainted housing
A federal judge has kept alive due process claims of former residents of a lead- and arsenic-tainted housing complex who were abruptly forced to move, though several claims alleging racial discrimination and other causes of action against the city of East Chicago were dismissed.
Judge: Indiana environmental agency violated rules on factory permit
Indiana’s environmental agency broke its own public comment rules when it issued an air pollution permit for a planned $2.5 billion coal-to-diesel plant, an administrative law judge ruled in siding with the plant’s opponents.
Indiana House backs slowing coal power plant closures
The Indiana House narrowly endorsed Monday a proposal aimed at making it more difficult for Indiana electric companies to close more coal-fired power plants.
Public forum to push for lead legislation as bills stall
With the deadline looming in the Statehouse for bills to pass through committee, the Greater Indianapolis NAACP Branch #3053 is sustaining the pressure on the Legislature to address the risks of lead poisoning in children.
Lawsuit against IU over dorm mold given class-action status
A judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit alleging Indiana University breached its contract by providing substandard living assignments to thousands of students staying in residential halls where mold was found.
Groups want tougher U.S. Steel fine for Lake Michigan spill
The leaders of 18 environmental and civic groups have joined a push for U.S. Steel to face tougher penalties over a spill of hazardous substances from a northwestern Indiana plant into Lake Michigan.
Indiana proposes new sulfur dioxide limit for E. Chicago plant
Indiana regulators have set proposed new pollution limits for a steel plant in East Chicago that’s considered one of the region’s worst polluters.
Environmental groups sue steel mill over lake chemical spill
Two environmental groups are suing a steelmaker for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act at its northwestern Indiana facility more than 100 times in the past five years, including an August spill that killed more than 3,000 fish.