Air

Polluted spray ‘big surprise’

By |

(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

Echo

Septage plant probe advances

By |

(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – A downstate engineering firm will probe questions surrounding design and construction of Grand Traverse County’s troubled septage plant, an effort to determine whether its architects committed professional negligence. The county’s Board of Public Works voted 7 to 1 this week to hire Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein & Newhof for up to $19,500 to investigate septage plant design firm Gourdie-Fraser Inc. and project manager Michael Houlihan. More

Echo

Iron Range copper mine project inches ahead

By |

(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Minnesota’s first copper mine took a step forward Wednesday as state officials released a 1,500-page environmental impact study for the Iron Range proposal. The $600 million project, to be built by PolyMet Mining Inc., would include an open-pit mine near Babbitt and a processing plant near Hoyt Lakes, connected by an existing 6-mile railroad spur. Company officials said the mine would create 400 permanent jobs for more than 20 years, and would produce nickel, cobalt, platinum and other valuable metals. More

Echo

Mercury detected in mill waste

By |

(IN) The Post-Tribune – Mercury is contained in the 700,000 tons of blast furnace waste that ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has stored directly on the ground less than 500 feet from Lake Michigan for the past two decades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discovered the mercury after testing the pile for hazardous pollution on July 30. More

Echo

Raising a stink over… The Big Pipe

By |

(ON) The Toronto Star – Ontario’s environment ministry has given its blessing to a massive, controversial $550 million sewage line — known as the “Big Pipe” — that will open the door to billions of dollars worth of new development in the eastern GTA. However, years after construction started on the project in York Region, politicians are embroiled in in-fighting, as the remainder of the pipeline proposed to run through Pickering faces opposition from residents. More

Echo

Something foul in standards for septic systems?

By |

(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Carver County is skirting the same issue — a lack of adequate separation between drain field and groundwater — at a $2.5 million ballroom it bought at a park near Lake Waconia. The controversy has been roiling Carver for most of the year and heated up during the summer, when Workman insisted his that fellow commissioners do something about it. More

Echo

Sewage-sniffing dogs protect lakes, beaches

By |

(MI) Detroit Free Press – When Scott Raymond saw Sable, a German shepherd mix, on a video at an animal shelter in 2006, he knew the dog was right for the job he had in mind. Raymond’s plan was to train Sable to sniff out illegal sewer connections, which dump billions of gallons of bacteria-filled water into rivers, lakes and streams each year, shuttering beaches, contaminating fish and costing millions in cleanups and lost tourism and recreation. After a year of training and successful work in the Kawkawlin River in Bay County and in Genesee County, Sable, now top dog at Environmental Canine Services, has earned fame and praise for sniffing out contamination from leaky septic tanks and illicit sewer hookups. More

Echo

Sometimes crap happens

By |

(ON) The Toronto Star – Sewage spills into Lake Ontario — such as the one that happened in 2006 — are unavoidable but that will change over time, a prominent city councillor insisted yesterday. “We have a $1-billion plan over the next 25 years which is in the process — large retention tanks and trunk sewers — which will over time solve the problem of sewage leaks,” said Councillor Adam Giambrone, a member of Toronto’s public works committee. More

Echo

Hazardous waste uptick

By |

(MI) The Macomb Daily – County officials were pleased and a bit mystified recently when a Health Department program that provides safe disposal of household hazardous wastes attracted 776 vehicles, which brought a combined 27 tons of liquid waste to the Warren Recycling Center. Officials said it was the biggest turnout in the 7-year history of the program, which offers a rotating disposal service at various locations around the county. More

Echo

Phytofilters: Turning brownfields green

By |

By Sarah Coefield, coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 13, 2009

Some Great Lakes brownfields will turn green if Congress passes a $475 million restoration package. Literally. The U.S. Forest Service seeks $2 million of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to transform  unusable industrial lots into parks and trailways – and clean up some contaminants in the process. While the forest service has  long restored natural vegetation and has an urban forestry division, this will be its first foray into phytoremediation, said Steven Davis, a watershed specialist with the forest service’s Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry division.