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.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
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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: 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.
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.
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.
Volkswagen settlement funds fuel-efficient buses, trucks
Indiana gets $41 million from Volkswagen’s settlement of a class-action lawsuit after it was caught cheating on diesel-emissions tests. Indiana recently collected its first chunk of the $41 million, and its first round of grants will cover 179 vehicles and engines for schools, local governments and businesses around the state
In contamination case, 7th Circuit cleans up messy preclusion fight
Even though none of the businesses disagreed over who contaminated a manufacturing site, the question of who should pay for the cleanup became a fight over claim preclusion that ended with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals offering instructions on how the lawsuit should have been defended.
Reversal: Man can’t build concrete seawall on lake property
A man’s permission to build a concrete wall on his northern Indiana lakefront property has been halted now that the Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court’s reversal of his denied application.
Despite objections, 9,200-head hog farm moves forward in Miami County
A proposed 9,200-head hog farm is moving forward in northern Indiana despite opposition from residents who say it will hurt property values and environmentalists worried about its proximity to a large reservoir.
2 groups appeal Indiana permit for coal-to-diesel plant
Two southern Indiana groups are appealing an air permit that state regulators recently approved for a planned $2.5 billion coal-to-diesel plant.
IDEM to hike permit fees for first time in decades
On May 5, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill supported by the Indiana Chamber, the Indiana Manufacturers Association, and other business and environmental groups that will allow the state to raise pollution permit fees after an extensive rulemaking process that could last more than a year.
Fired whistleblower’s case against IDEM reinstated, remanded
A long-running dispute between the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and a terminated employee has been partially revived after a panel of appellate judges agreed the former worker could have been held personally liable for misuse of state funds.
Duke Energy to create plan for Indiana coal ash ponds
Duke Energy will need to create a corrective action plan for its coal ash ponds in Indiana after mandatory groundwater testing found the ponds have contaminants at levels higher than groundwater protection standards.
SCOTUS to determine when permits are necessary to pollute navigable waters
The US Supreme Court is reviewing a lower court ruling that seemingly expands the Clean Water Act. Under the 9th Circuit’s decision, any pollutant found in navigable water that is “fairly traceable” to a permittable discharge source is subject to permitting requirements, even if the source of the pollutant does not discharge directly into a navigable water.
COA rejects developer’s private pond argument
An Evansville developer’s argument that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management does not have jurisdiction over private ponds did not hold water with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Cleanup set for 200,000 waste tires left at Anderson business
State environmental officials are stepping in to clean up nearly 200,000 shredded tires left at a former central Indiana recycling business.
Proposal to sunset Ohio River pollution standards yields flood of concern
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission members, including three from Indiana, are preparing to vote on a proposal that would sunset the organization’s pollution control standards. That proposal has yielded thousands of pages of public comments from proponents who say ORSANCO’s standards are redundant and, more significantly, from opponents who fear water quality in Indiana would suffer.
Pence family gas stations left costly environmental legacy
The collapse of an oil company linked to the Pence family in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 of the company’s contaminated sites, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.