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player ready...The East Chicago City Council passed a resolution July 10 expressing opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s potential to approve of the continued disposal of PCBs, and other toxins, at an open-air facility in the city.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began dredging the Indiana Harbor and Shipping Canal in 2012, where they are removing sediment from the canal, some of which is toxic, and store it in a confined disposal facility at 3500 Indianapolis Blvd. The Corps is applying for a permit to continue disposing of the dredged sediment at the facility in East Chicago.
Though largely symbolic, the council also passed a resolution opposing the proposed budget reductions to the EPA and the impact on the Great Lakes Restorative Initiative.
Since its inception in 2010, GLRI has invested in more than 3,000 projects to rehabilitate the Great Lakes by combating invasive species and protecting fish and wildlife, cleaning up pollution and contaminated sediment and controlling pollution run-off.
Amid continued speculation about the future of EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, East Chicago City Council Attorney Stephen Bower said the resolution is part of the fallout pertaining to the alleged “dismantling” of EPA with the proposed budget cuts.
“For the city of East Chicago, attention and concern for environmental matters are of current concern with the presence of lead and other toxic elements in our soil and water,” he said.
East Chicago environmental activist Thomas Frank was among several East Chicago residents that thanked the council for passing the resolutions.
“This is an old industrial city and we have lots of industrial legacies that we are still grappling with,” he said. “What we’re doing today is drawing a line in the ground saying we’re not going to accept this toxic project.”
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