Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/hazardous-waste/)
(IN) The Post-Tribune – U.S. Steel will update the public on its cleanup of several contaminated sites at its Gary Works facility on Thursday. Among the sites are two contaminated lagoons and a hazardous waste landfill on the west side. More
(IL) Chicago Tribune – Joliet is pushing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to more than double the concentration of cancer-causing radium it’s allowed to dump onto farmland in the south suburbs, expanding the potential for deadly radon gas in these increasingly urban communities. Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element abundant in deep-water wells in northern Illinois and throughout the Midwest. Cities such as Joliet that rely on these deep wells spend millions of dollars each year to remove radium from their drinking water. Some communities pay to dump radium in a landfill, but Joliet and others use a cheaper alternative, mixing it with waste material that is sold to farmers as fertilizer. More
(MI) Detroit Free Press – Metro Detroit’s outdated sewage systems regularly violate the law by dumping raw and partially treated human waste into rivers, streams and lakes that provide recreation and drinking water to more than 3 million people, a Free Press analysis of state records found. In the last two years, sewer systems in more than three dozen communities dumped a combined 80 billion gallons of raw and partially treated human waste into waterways. More
(IN) The Post-Tribune – Mud in the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is so contaminated with a cancer-causing industrial pollutant that it could rank among the most contaminated sites in the nation, researchers say. The Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge the canal starting in late 2011 to facilitate ship traffic. But researchers aren’t sure whether dredging will be good because it will remove the potentially harmful pollutants, or bad because it will stir them up. The Army Corps says there is little health risk. More
(OH) The Toledo Blade – A joint proposal to end the federal government’s controversial practice of dumping dredged material into Lake Erie is to be unveiled in downtown Toledo at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The alternative is being offered by Sandy Bihn and Lindsey Webb, Oregon and Toledo council members, respectively, who have been working on the issue with a coalition of fishermen, boaters, and environmentalists. More
(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – In the end, imposing a county wide fee on septic tank owners is probably the surest monetary solution to Grand Traverse County’s long-running septage plant saga. But that doesn’t mean taxpayers will like it or that it should be imposed on them by a political body that is neither representative of or answerable to many property owners who will pay the price. More
(IL) Chicago Tribune – A plan is under way in Highland Park to help keep at least a small amount of raw sewage out of Lake Michigan — the source of drinking water and recreation for millions of people across the region. In a project that will eventually cost millions of dollars, the North Shore Sanitary District recently approved $150,000 to design the replacement of a mile-long stretch of concrete pipe, three feet in diameter, from a sewage pumping station at Highland Park’s Rosewood Beach to the Clavey Road treatment plant, also in the city. More
(IN) The Post-Tribune – More than a dozen stakeholders commented on U.S. Steel’s 2009 draft wastewater permit for Gary Works on Wednesday night at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Representatives from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management were present to outline the basics of the permit, record testimony, and answer any questions. Those present included representatives from businesses that work with U.S. Steel and environmental groups; state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes; and about 20 Gary Works employees in dayglo orange work pants. More
(OH) The Toledo Blade – By tightening the rules on private septic systems, state health and environmental officials hope to prevent a repeat of a bacterial outbreak here that caused 1,400 people to have stomach cramps and diarrhea in the summer of 2004.
The agreement among the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ottawa County commissioners, the Ottawa County Board of Health, and Put-in-Bay Township will make it harder for South Bass Island to be developed without sewer lines in place. More
(MI) Bay City Times – To think we are receiving $475 million to help repair our precious Great Lakes, but not being able to use the money to clean up the sewage that is dumped into those same Great Lakes every time we get a heavy rain is ridiculous.I cannot believe in good conscience why this problem isn’t a No. 1 priority. I don’t care about the cost! More