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Friday, January 06, 2006

Environment - LaPorte County joins Pines transfer station appeal; IDEM may close NW Indiana office; More on wood boilers

Pine transfer station. The Michigan City News-Dispatch and the Chesterton Tribune report that LaPorte County will join the appeal. From the N-D:

[LaPorte County Commission President Marlow Harmon] asked commissioners to sign a resolution that would allow county attorneys to intervene in an appeal filed by two Porter County communities to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which granted Blieden a permit for the station in early November.

The resolution supports the towns of Pines and Beverly Shores, which filed an appeal in November. Their joint appeal cited environmental concerns, especially that the proposed location puts Kintzele Ditch in danger of contamination. The ditch flows into Lake Michigan between the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's swimming beaches at Mount Baldy and Central Avenue. * * *

“We hereby direct our attorneys to seek to intervene in the pending appeal of the permit granted by (IDEM) to this facility and that our attorneys are empowered to take such steps as are necessary to indicate to any reviewing agency or court of law that we oppose the siting of such facility at the currently proposed location near County Line Road in LaPorte County.”

From the Tribune:
The LaPorte County Commissioners have taken a stand against the proposed waste transfer station on the Porter-LaPorte county line and will try to join in the appeal of the state-issued permit.

The Porter County Commissioners, as well as the towns of Beverly Shores and The Pines, are appealing the permit that was issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to Great Lakes Transfer LLC of Michigan City.

IDEM’s permit approval came despite strong opposition from residents and public officials, who say the site is too close to homes, is situated in an environmentally sensitive area, and could negatively impact the nearby Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Porter County Commissioners, in particular, are appealing the permit on the grounds that County Line Road is not suitable for heavy truck traffic due to its 10-ton weight limit and frost law restrictions.

IDEM Closing NW Office? Meanwhile, the Gary Post-Tribune reports today, in a story headlined "IDEM branch’s future in question":
The state’s environmental commissioner wanted to know if his agency should keep a regional office in Northwest Indiana. He got an emphatic yes Thursday from a room full of Northwest Indiana environmental leaders.

The region’s unique environmental problems demand special attention from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, they told IDEM Commissioner Tom Easterly.

With the nation’s steel-making center, one of the country’s most polluted rivers and Indiana’s only direct Great Lakes access, they argued, Northwest Indiana needs more, not less, IDEM presence.

“We need to have someone up here who understands the issues,” said Reggie Korthals, environmental coordinator for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.

Easterly — who lived in Valparaiso and worked at Bethlehem Steel before taking the IDEM job a year ago — said the agency is trying to determine how many regional offices it needs. It has three now, in Merrillville, South Bend and Petersburg.

Still More on Boilers. The Louisville Courier Journal has an AP story about IDEM extending the comment period for outdoor wood boilers (see earlier ILB entry here). Some quotes:
Four legislators from southern Indiana, however, expressed concerns that the proposed regulations could harm rural residents who rely on wood for heat.

"Today it is outdoor wood-burning stoves. Tomorrow it could be fireplaces," state Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, told The Herald-Times for a story Friday.

Reps. Vern Tincher, D-Terre Haute, and Jerry Denbo, D-French Lick, and state Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, say they also are concerned. Steele has been running radio ads to try to raise awareness and draw more public comment.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 6, 2006 08:43 AM
Posted to Environment