(IN) The Post-Tribune - For the past week, U.S. Steel has been spraying contaminated wastewater collected from the bottom of its hazardous waste landfill into the air over the landfill.

The landfill holds sediment dredged from the Grand Calumet River contaminated with mercury and possible cancer-causing pollutants, such as benzene, naphthalene and polychlorinated biphenyls. The 20-foot tall landfill is located within a quarter of a mile of residential neighborhoods.

The announcement was a shock to several attendants at U.S. Steel’s quarterly citizens meeting in Gary Thursday, who didn’t know about the project. More