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player ready...The Indiana Department of Environmental Management, for the second time, postponed a public hearing for a Hobart wetlands project permit, according to documents from the agency.
The virtual public hearing was originally scheduled for Aug. 12 but changed to 4 p.m. Aug 19. Now, the hearing will be held at 4 p.m. Monday, according to IDEM.
The agency has rescheduled hearings due to continued power outages in Lake County after the Aug. 11 derecho. According to NIPSCO’s website, at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, 64,017 residents were still without power.
Of those, about 55,516 residents were in Lake County, according to NIPSCO. At about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, 4,248 Hobart residents were still without power.
All Hobart residents are estimated to have power restored by 11:59 p.m. Friday, according to NIPSCO. All power in Lake County is expected to be restored by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 25, with Gary as the last city scheduled.
IDEM’s hearing will be on Microsoft Teams, and a link to the hearing is available on the updated public hearing notice, which can be found on the agency’s website, in.gov/idem/public-notices.
The permit applicant is Schottenstein Property Group, and V3 Companies is the project agent.
According to IDEM, the proposed permit is for an industrial development that would impact 5.49 acres of wetlands and 325 linear feet of stream channel with fill and excavation. The project would develop warehouses and associated infrastructure, and the area is currently cropland, woodlands and wetlands.
If approved, the wetlands project will be located near the intersection of U.S. 30 and Colorado Street, near the Crossing of Hobart shopping center.
The project is not related to Hobart’s Amazon data center, which will be nearby at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, previously said in a statement to the Post-Tribune that she opposes the proposed permit. Her agency tries to address data center-related or adjacent issues throughout the region, she said in an email.
“We demand IDEM see the cumulative picture of what’s being built around our communities, which already suffer the burden of industrial pollution, and reject this isolated, short-sighted decision,” she said.