CHEMICAL SPILL in Lake Michigan

April 12, 2017 · by cmartinsawyer · in Uncategorized. ·

April 11, 2017

SPECIAL STATEMENT FROM SAVE THE DUNES:

On Tuesday, April 11, 2017, U.S. EPA responded to a spill containing hexavalent chromium (also known as chromium-6) into Burns Waterway within 100 yards of Lake Michigan from the US Steel facility in Portage, Indiana. Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), U.S. EPA, and National Park Service staff are currently on site to mitigate and monitor for damages.

Until further notice has been provided, people and pets should avoid direct contact with Lake Michigan. Hexavalent chromium is a byproduct of industrial processes. It is known for creating reversible and irreversible skin legions if in direct contact. A fish kill is expected to be a result of this incident. This is also the same carcinogenic chemical that appeared in the 2000 biographical film, “Erin Brockovich.”

“The state of Indiana’s emergency spill response actions and associated responsibilities are quite lax,” states Natalie Johnson, Executive Director. “While the law requires communication with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management within two hours of a spill’s discovery, it is not clear how quickly residents and property owners downstream should be reached.”

Lake Michigan is a primary source of drinking water for those living in LaPorte, Porter, and Lake counties. Regulations and agencies like IDEM and U.S. EPA safeguard residents against spills and act as the first responders when these situations arise. “Now is not the time to defund the U.S. EPA,” says Johnson, “or to minimize the creation and strengthening of regulation. Our health and safety depends on it.”

According to a recent press release, U.S. EPA is working closely with U.S. Steel and federal, state and local partners. In an abundance of caution, the nearest municipal water source, the Indiana American Water in Ogden Dunes, has shut down its water intake and will use reserve water. Also, the National Park Service has temporarily closed two beaches at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (see https://www.nps.gov/indu/index.htm for more information).

https://savedunes.org/2017/04/12/save-the-dunes-statement-on-chemical-spill-near-portage-lakefront-and-riverwalk/

tinyurl.com/hzlbdpz

                                          tinyurl.com/hzlbdpz

The two past presidents have created the largest marine area in the world.  President Obama should follow suit by preserving America's only Great Lake entirely within its borders.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papahānaumokuākea_Marine_National_MonumentMap PMNM 2016.jpg

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (roughly /pɑːpɑːˈhɑːnaʊmoʊˌkwɑːkeɪə/) is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km²) of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles (360,000 km²), it was expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone, making it the world's second largest protected area.^[1] It is internationally known for its cultural and natural values as follows:

"The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Makumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons."^[2]

Their Soil Toxic, 1,100 Indiana Residents Scramble to Find New Homes

If lead is in the soil, is it in Lake Michigan's drinking waters too?http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/us/lead-contamination-public-housing-east-chicago-indiana.html

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/22-million-pounds-plastic-debris-enters-great-lakes-every-year.html

Lake Michigan Haunted by Sewage, Mercury

Our waterways have become a witch's brew of pollutants

www.environmentillinois.org/news/ile/lake-michigan-haunted-sewage-mercury

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Chicago, IL – Today Environment Illinois released “Ten Scary Facts about Lake Michigan,” a new factsheet which compiles 10 of the most frightening realities about pollution in the area's most iconic waterway. The group was joined by Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno, and many activists.

“For more than a decade, loopholes in the Clean Water Act have Lake Michigan to become a witch’s brew of pollutants,” said Lisa Nikodem, Campaign Director with Environment Illinois. “President Obama has the power to make fishing and swimming in Lake Michigan a lot less scary. Today, we are urging the Obama administration to ensure that Lake Michigan, and all our waterways, are protected now and for future generations.”

The Halloween-themed event comes on the heels of the EPA’s announcement to move forward with a rulemaking to restore Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands across the country. The rule could close loopholes that leave nearly 56% of Illinois’s streams and the drinking water for more than 1.6 million Illinoisans at risk of unchecked pollution.

The most terrifying facts revealed today include:

•    Since 2000, over 34 billion gallons of raw sewage have been dumped into Lake Michigan.

•    Last year Cook County had 334 beach closings due to unsafe levels of pollution and bacteria.

•    Over 50 beaches on Lake Michigan Tested positive for mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (used in coolant fluid) and E. Coli in summer 2012.

What’s even scarier is what’s at stake: For most people in Illinois, Lake Michigan means swimming, fishing, and boating. More importantly, Lake Michigan provides drinking water for over 10 million people.

"Pollution in the lake, obviously has a detrimental effect on us now,” said Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno of the 1st Ward. “But also, our future regional prosperity is dependent upon preserving this most precious natural resource. Clean water protections must be restored, and restored as soon as possible. There is no other way to ensure of future."

The EPA is taking public comments now, and will hold a public meeting in mid-December to gather information on the science connecting our smaller streams and wetlands to larger bodies of water. Over 3,500 Illinoisans have already submitted public comments calling on the Obama administration to move forward to close these loopholes.

 “Environment Illinois thanks members of Congress like Congressman Schneider for standing up for clean water,” Nikodem said. “Support in Congress is critical to preventing further efforts to weaken Clean Water Act protections and helping the Obama administration restore protections to waterways that feed Lake Michigan.”

“It’s time to give Lake Michigan the Halloween treat it deserves – protection from polluters,” said Nikodem. "We thank the EPA for taking the first step forward to protect our waters. The Obama administration should finish the job and ensure that Lake Michigan and all our waterways will be less scary for future Halloweens."

Illinois’ Waterways Haunted by contaminated 

stormwater, toxic chemicals

For Immediate Release

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Contact: Brittany King, 312-544-4436, ext. 290, brittany@environmentillinois.org   

http://www.environmentillinois.org/news/ile/lake-michigan-haunted-sewage-mercury 

Chicago , IL– In anticipation of Halloween, Environment Illinois unveiled Illinois’ Cringe-Worthy Water Facts of 2015, showing that a terrifying concoction of toxic chemicals, contaminated stormwater runoff, and other pollutants have made Illinois’ waterways a ghost of their former selves.

https://news.vice.com/story/west-calumet-lead-crisis

By Vice News  on Dec 13, 2016

  

This segment originally aired Dec. 1, 2016, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

https://news.vice.com/story/west-calumet-lead-crisis:

Cleaner streams goal of 

Lake Michigan Tributaries Watershed Study

By Louise Wrege & David Johnson

Published:  Wednesday, May 11, 2016 12:40 PM EDT

Excerpt

“The reason we went after this is because the (Berrien County) Health Department, when they were doing some beach testing a couple of years ago, was getting quite a few high E. coli counts along the beaches in the southern part of the county,” she said.

The health department reported there were between five and 12 beach closures due to high E. coli levels each summer between 2012 and 2015.

“Some work has been done with the Health Department and The Conservation Fund to fix the problem,” Hamilton said. “They’ve found some problem areas and got some things fixed, but there’s no real overall plan for this area. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

Hamilton said E. coli is a bacteria indicator of waste, which can come from manure, wildlife, farm animals, or failing septic or sanitary sewer systems.

She said human waste means the stream is probably being polluted by a failing septic system or a crack in sanitary sewer line.

Peg Kohring, midwest director of the The Conservation Fund, said the Lake Michigan Tributaries Watershed Management Plan will be focused on 12 creeks from the Michigan-Indiana line (“they call it the White Ditch”) to Grand Mere State Park near Stevensville. She noted that the Galien River itself is not part of the project.

www.harborcountrynews.com/articles/2016/05/11/features/doc573360458912e333442662.txt

Give our beautiful Lake the protection it deserves!

Please ask President Obama to sign an executive order declaring Lake Michigan a National Monument.

www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call

Safeguarding the nation's waters makes good economic sense.  

The US Marine Protection Act covers Lake Michigan, our inland sea that supplies drinking water for millions of people and provides habitat for marine life. The only Great Lake entirely within the U.S, Lake Michigan's 22,400 square miles are a mere 7% the size of Great Britain's Pitcairn Marine Sanctuary.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26205