Dredging picture remains muddy
Times CorrespondentEAST CHICAGO -- A new initiative to communicate with community members about plans to dredge the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal did little Wednesday night to reassure East Chicago City Councilman Don Koliboski, D-1st.
The Michigan State University-affiliated Technical Outreach Services for Communities, called TOSC, joined with the Grand Calumet Task Force in conducting the first of many regular meetings on the project at the Pastrick Library.Koliboski said the meeting and others to follow are a step in the right direction, but that he still has many concerns about the project. He said groups such as TOSC that have access to technical experts will be needed to confirm the findings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers and review their proposed methods.Plans are to dredge 4.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment over the next 30 years. Dredging is scheduled to begin in 2005 and end in 2035, with monitoring of the site to continue until 2065.Koliboski, whose district encompasses the site, said the issue is the reason he entered politics in the first place."This is my No. 1 issue because it affects my district," he said. "I'm not sold on this. There's still a lot of unanswered questions and concerns."TOSC Program Manager Kirk Riley encouraged the group of about 40 people to interrupt him or other presenters with their questions, and there were many during the two-hour community meeting.Riley and Grand Calumet Task Force Executive Director Angelina Mendoza were joined by Milind Khire, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State, who gave a review of the proposed confined disposal facility, or CDF. Kathy Banks, professor of civil engineering at Purdue University and director of the Midwest Hazardous Substance Research Center, spoke on innovative remediation options.Riley said TOSC would serve as a pipeline of information between the community and federal agencies. Although TOSC is funded via a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the organization is autonomous in its research and recommendations, Riley said.There are TOSC branches covering five regions of the United States, with the Midwest branch partnered with the Grand Calumet Task Force and the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs."We are really interested in building your community's ability to participate in this issue, even if your goal is to eliminate the CDF," Riley said.While there may be no disagreement that the ship canal needs to be dredged, the proposed dredging methodology and location of the CDF has sparked furious debate between East Chicago residents and the U.S. EPA and Corps of Engineers.The use of a hydraulic versus "clamshell" dredging is one issue. Another is the government's proposed 131-acre site for the CDF at the already-polluted former Energy Cooperative Inc. on Indianapolis Boulevard, about 800 yards from East Chicago Central High School and Westside Junior High.Another concern is the potential for volatilization of contaminated particulates from what opponents regard as an open-air containment facility."It's open, not confined," said East Chicago resident and community activist Colleen Aguirre.The U.S. EPA and Corps of Engineers have insisted the project does not pose a risk.
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