Wheatfield resident Cynthia North lives across the street from Jasper County’s incoming Amazon data center site.
Although she’s worried about what it means for her property, North is also concerned about how the development means for surrounding communities, especially if a wastewater permit application including the data center is approved.
“Many counties and towns in Northwest Indiana rely on the Kankakee aquifer, 900 residents in Wheatfield alone,” North said. “This aquifer supplies well over 50% of drinking water consumed in the region. There’s a lack of an alternative water resource to meet the needs of the population in the event of contamination.”
North participated in a nearly two-hour Indiana Department of Environmental Management virtual permit hearing Wednesday night. Participants had a chance to comment on a wastewater permit application for NIPSCO’s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station.
Illinois residents expressed their concerns with the permit application, especially because the Kankakee River stretches into the state.
“As you are aware, permits have to meet downstream water quality standards, and it’s not clear what … was done to meet Illinois water quality standards here,” said Albert Ettinger, an Illinois resident.
If approved, the permit would mix wastewater — including coal ash water — from Schahfer, a new combined cycle gas turbine facility, a new peaker plant and the incoming Amazon data center together in a settling basin before discharging into the Kankakee River, Stahlbaum Ditch and Davis Ditch. IDEM put out a notice for the application on Sept. 4, and the permit will be reviewed by its office of water quality.
According to the permit application, on peak days, the data center and gas plant will withdraw more than 34 million gallons of water from the Kankakee River.
Pollutants monitored by the permit include arsenic, mercury, chromium, sulfate and zinc, according to the permit application. If approved, the permit will also require monitoring of the water flow, temperature, present or expected pollutants in the sourcewater, expected pollutants in the wastewater, and additional pollutants associated with steam electric power generation.
Stormwater monitoring will also be required, including good housekeeping, spill prevention and cleanup, preventing raw materials from contacting rain and managing stormwater to not cause erosion or pollution, according to permit documents.
“Any contamination will pose a significant risk to public health,” North said. “It is extremely important to consider this before approval of the wastewater permit. If the Kankakee watershed cannot be protected, please deny this permit.”
Angelita Soriano, a Hobart resident, said, if approved, the permit would have real consequences for the region’s communities. Soriano also said she’s concerned that coal waste protections are being weakened based on NIPSCO’s planned retirement of Schahfer in 2028.
“Why should residents accept weaker protections based on a retirement date that might change?” Soriano said. “The permit needs enforceable requirements addressing continued coal operations, including restoration of stronger pollution controls.”
Soriano is also concerned that the permit application says various pollutants will be monitored after wastewater streams mix without enforceable limits.
“Reporting pollution is not the same as limiting it,” she said. “… Northwest Indiana deserves more assurances. Please strengthen this permit and publicly address these concerns before approving it.”
Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said it’s egregious that four facilities are included in one permit.
“Deregulation is really the name of the game now, and NIPSCO is again asking to get a free pass to pollute our communities,” Williams said. “Now all these facilities can discharge most of their wastewater through the same outfall location into the Kankakee River, which is already impaired for aquatic life and fish consumption.”
Williams also said she doesn’t know who will be responsible if high levels of arsenic or other pollutants show up because multiple large facilities are included in the permit application. She said the permit structure “makes real enforcement impossible.”
AJ Martin, a south Lake County resident, asked if IDEM is taking Project Shirley — a data center project in Eagle Creek Township near Lowell — into consideration when looking at this project. Martin said the two projects will stress the Kankakee River.
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“Project Shirley and the industrial infrastructure surrounding it will be causing more pollutants and water issues just upstream,” she said. “We cannot rubber stamp every single permit for multiple projects. With just the current state of the Kankakee River in mind, we need to think about what it could be a few years from now with all the other pollutants and projects and industrial infrastructure here in Indiana.”
A NIPSCO spokesperson responded to permit concerns in a Thursday statement.
“In April 2025, NIPSCO applied to IDEM for a permit renewal at the Schahfer Generating Station. As reflected in the draft permit, the permitted system includes the generating station and an adjacent data center,” the emailed statement said. “Wastewater managed under the permit would be treated and discharged in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations and permit requirements. NIPSCO has safely withdrawn and returned water to the Kankakee River under state permits at Schahfer since the 1970s. Water quality and temperature are routinely monitored and reported to IDEM as required by the permit.”
IDEM will accept written public comment through Oct. 22. More details about the permit and submitting written comments can be found in IDEM’s virtual file cabinet: A copy of the application and preliminary findings is also available via IDEM’s Virtual File Cabinet (VFC) located at https://www.in.gov/idem/legal/public-records/virtual-file-cabinet/. The permit number is IN0053201.