Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News

The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund

Volume 9, Number 5 • September-October 2001

Indiana Update

Progress Toward Controlling Combined Sewer Overflows

by Tom Neltner and Sandra Wilmore, Save the Dunes Conservation Fund

Indiana’s Water Pollution Control Board accepted the “No Net Increase in Sewage Overflows” citizens’ petition for rulemaking on September 12, 2001. The vote was 9-0. This means that the petition, which was circulated by a collaboration of groups including the Sierra Club, Izaak Walton League, Hoosier Environmental Council, Save the Dunes, and Improving Kids’ Environment, met the criteria laid out in the law. Hearings will now be held to address the issues raised in the petition, including requiring that new connections to combined sewer systems will not increase the amount of sewage overflowing into Indiana’s waterways. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) currently approves of new connections even though they increase the sewer overflows from combined sewer systems.

There will be between three and five hearings held, most likely in Northwest Indiana, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and a southern location yet to be determined; the schedule has not been set. Based on the results of the hearings, environmentalists hope that the Water Pollution Control Board will direct the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to issue a first notice of rulemaking - the first step in the state’s four-step rulemaking process. Environmentalists intend to address the following additional concerns through the rulemaking process:

Is a five-year rainfall the best basis for evaluating whether there is no net increase?
Do we need an exemption for homes or neighborhoods connecting because of failing septic systems?
What are the compliance methods and what is the overall cost of complying with the rule?
How will a CSO community be able to certify compliance?
How will the proposal fit with existing sewer connection bans and early warning notices?
How does this compare with standards for connections to sanitary sewers?

Thanks and congratulations to all who have supported the petition! The coalition of environmental groups will work to ensure a strong presence at each hearing as well as good media coverage. Indiana residents who wish to be kept updated on the hearing dates, get a copy of the petition, or otherwise get involved, are encouraged to contact Save the Dunes at 219-879-3564 or visit their website: www.savedunes.org/

Northwest Meets Northeast

by Gretchen Eelkema and Sandra Wilmore

On July 16, Save the Dunes Conservation Fund’s Sandra Wilmore (Director) and Gretchen Eelkema (Public Relations Intern), traveled to Auburn, Indiana to meet with several environmentalists in northeast Indiana. The purpose of the visit was to learn about the priority environmental issues in the area and to strengthen contacts for the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund. “While we met some great people and expanded GLAHNF’s networking ‘web’, we learned more about a disturbing practice occurring in that part of the state”, said Wilmore.

Karen Griggs and Jane Dustin of the Izaak Walton League provided an in-depth tour of the area. A critical issue directly affecting northeast Indiana is the unchecked authority of Indiana’s Drainage Boards and the County Surveyors that extend little or no consideration for the environment. The vegetation along several miles of a ditch is being removed to “improve” drainage. The clearing involves cutting and applying herbicide to full grown trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants within 75 feet of one side of the ditch (see photo). Apparently, the purpose of the project is to prevent debris such as sticks and logs from entering the ditch and blocking flow. Landowners fought the city to prevent the destruction, but failed to stop the activity. Several similar projects have been proposed and are pending before the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which is failing to do its job by complacently providing approvals. These clearings projects will cause erosion and sedimentation that will certainly reduce the water quality in the ditches and downstream into other waterbodies, negatively impacting fish and other aquatic species.

Save the Dunes is continuing to work with the Izaak Walton League on ways to eliminate or at least reduce the damage done by these policies and practices.