[Southsider2k12]

The EPA is coming out to the Pines for a review of what is going on with the Pines Superfund sight. I encourage EVERYONE to get their butts out there for this.

Tuesday February 9th at 6:30 pm, Pines Baptist Church at 4486 W Hwy 20 in the Pines.

If people have questions or need special accommodations, contact Janet Pope at the EPA either at 312*353*0628 or email at pope.janet@epa.gov.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...62732110188.txt

Session on Pines issue planned

From Staff Reports
Published: Monday, February 1, 2010 11:22 PM CST
PINES — The Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold a public-information session on the Town of Pines Superfund Alternative site at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Dunes Baptist Church, 4486 W. U.S. 20.

“We’re just going to report on activities that have been happening at the site and what’s planned,” EPA project manager Tim Drexler said.

The first important document on the remediation process that is supposed to occur at Yard 520, the remedial investigation report, has not been finalized yet, Drexler said. The report describes how many contaminants are present from fly ash at the Yard 520 landfill and where those contaminants may be headed. However, officials will talk generally about its contents, he said, as well as about the ecological and human health-risk assessments now in progress.

It has been more than a year since the agencies hosted a public meeting like this on the issue, Drexler said.

[Southsider2k12]

I am planning on being there tonight as long as the meeting still takes place!

[Southsider2k12]

The meeting was obviously canceled, but this is good info.

http://www.post-trib.com/news/2036427,pine...ion0209.article

EPA to update Pines residents about coal ash contamination
Comments

February 9, 2010
BY GITTE LAASBY, (219) 648-2183

Editor's note: Due to the snowy weather today, tonight's meeting has been canceled. Watch www.post-trib.com for rescheduling information.

PINES -- Residents of Pines are concerned that radiation from fly ash in their yards poses a health risk and that a coal ash landfill nearby is causing water pollution that could make it to Lake Michigan.
Meeting canceled

What: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will update the public on investigation of contamination from the Yard 520 landfill at a public meeting.

When: 6:30 tonight.

Where: Dunes Baptist Church, 4486 W. U.S. 20 in Michigan City.

For more information on the landfill, visit www.pineswater.org

Residents will raise their concerns at a meeting tonight with federal officials.

The residents of the town west of Michigan City live near Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s landfill, Yard 520, which holds more than a million tons of coal waste.

The area is known as an alternative Superfund site. That means that Brown Inc. (which owns the landfill) and NIPSCO (which deposited the coal ash) have admitted they are "potentially responsible" for pollution there. They are paying a consulting company to investigate how extensive the pollution is and what impact it may have on human health and the environment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency supervises the effort with input from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and a group of Pines residents known as People in Need of Environmental Safety.

With help from a former EPA radiation expert, Larry Jensen, the residents measured radioactive levels in the area and found up to three times what is naturally present. Jensen said the levels point to hot spots for coal ash, which was deposited as fill in yards and near roads years ago.

"Based on our handheld meters, there appears to be materials that are probably fly ash in many parts of the town that present an undue risk," said Jensen, who has 21 years of radiation experience.

Long-term exposure to low levels of radiation can cause cancer and DNA mutations, according to EPA.

Jensen said nearly half of the samples taken at the landfill show radiation levels are higher than the standard the EPA has used in the past for sites that has needed cleanup.

"I tried to project what the risk would be and it would definitely be along the upper limit a Superfund would use," he said, explaining that means a one-in-10,000 risk of developing cancer.

NIPSCO and Brown paid for municipal water to be extended to many of the residents, whose wells were contaminated. But when the consulting company assessed whether residents still on well water are at risk from contamination, they left out radiation, Jensen said.

EPA remedial project manager Tim Drexler said the agency reviewed the residents' radiation results, but does not plan to collect more samples as the residents are requesting.

He said groundwater was sampled close to the landfill, which should give the highest contamination results. Residents on wells get water from an aquifer that's far enough away that it's not impacted by contamination, he said.

While measuring radiation, the residents said they found at least three places where the landfill was leaking contaminated water. An IDEM inspector has asked Brown to fix the leaks.

A report on whether and how residents are still exposed to the contamination and whether there's a risk to the environment won't be made public until it's final in March, Drexler said.

[Southsider2k12]

The meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday March 16th at 6:30pm. It is still supposed to be held at the Dunes Baptist Church on HWY 20.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.post-trib.com/news/porter/20916...nes0309.article

Pines residents to talk about coal ash next week
Comments

March 9, 2010
POST-TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT

Residents at the Town of Pines plan to raise their concerns March 16 about possible heath risks associated with fly ash in their yards and coal ash in a nearby landfill.

The meeting was scheduled for Feb. 9, but was canceled because of bad weather. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will attend the meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Dunes Baptist Church, 4486 W. U.S. 20 in Michigan City. Information: www.pineswater.org

If you go

What: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will update the public on investigation of coal ash contamination from the Yard 520 landfill in the Town of Pines at a public meeting.

When: 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Where: Dunes Baptist Church, 4486 W. U.S. 20 in Michigan City.

For more information on the landfill, visit www.pineswater.org

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...c7083953477.txt

EPA update on Pines contamination reset

Focus is project time line
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010 4:18 AM CST
PINES — An update from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the investigation of contamination from the Yard 520 landfill has been rescheduled for Tuesday.

The public meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at Dunes Baptist Church, 4486 W. U.S. 20. Tim Drexler, EPA project manager for the Yard 520 Superfund Alternative site remediation, said the meeting is meant to be an update for residents on the project’s time line.

A final version was just received of the first important document on the remediation process: the remedial investigation report, Drexler said. The remedial investigation is meant to describe how many contaminants are present from fly ash at the Yard 520 landfill and where those contaminants may be headed.

However, the EPA’s review of that document probably will not be finished by Tuesday, Drexler said. He said he has to make sure all edits he requested were done, and write a supplement to the report, if necessary. But officials will talk generally about the report’s contents, he said, as well as about the ecological and human health-risk assessments now in progress.

It has been more than a year since the agencies hosted a public meeting like this on the issue, Drexler said. The last meeting in February was canceled due to bad weather.

The contamination in question is believed to have come from coal ash dumped there. The ash also was used as filler for yards and roads in the town in the 1970s. Brown Inc., a local contracting firm, owns the landfill, and trucks from its subsidiaries hauled the ash there from NIPSCO’s Bailly and Michigan City power plants.

NIPSCO disposed of 1.5 million tons of coal ash waste there more than 25 years. The landfill was shut down in 2003 after high levels of boron, molybdenum and arsenic were detected in residents’ well water. Now, NIPSCO and Brown Inc. are working with the EPA to study the Superfund Alternative site and provide a cleanup.

The EPA supervises the effort with input from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and a group of Pines residents known as People in Need of Environmental Safety.

Residents will have plenty of issues to discuss at the meeting. A recent study by a former EPA radiation expert, Larry Jensen, measured radioactive levels in the area and found them to be more than twice what is naturally present in at least 15 locations around the town.

Long-term, chronic exposure to low levels of radiation can cause cancer and DNA mutations, according to the EPA.

Jensen also said radium levels in the coal ash inside Yard 520 exceed EPA requirements for its removal from the site, based on his experience.

“If my interpretation is correct, the material should be removed no matter where it is, if you assume the same material in Pines is the same as in the landfill,” said Jensen, who worked on two Superfund sites in the Chicago area in his 21 years with the EPA.

While measuring radiation, at least three places were found where the landfill was leaking contaminated water. An IDEM inspector has asked Brown to fix the leaks.

[Southsider2k12]

Heading out the door to the meeting as we speak...

[Southsider2k12]

I got a lot of information from the meeting last night. When I get a while, i will put together my thoughts on the meeting, in the mean time, this is from the PT

http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/2106894...eet0317.article

Concern in Pines: 'I want to know if my water's safe'
Residents fire questions at EPA officials
Comments

March 17, 2010
BY GITTE LAASBY, POST-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, 648-2183

PINES -- Residents here are concerned that their health, groundwater and potentially Lake Michigan are affected by coal ash contaminants landfilled in their town and used under their roads and in their back yards.

On Tuesday night, the residents fired pointy questions at officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to get some answers.

Ellie Hahn, a resident of Pines Township, was worried about her well water.

"I just want to know if my water's safe. I paid $700,000 for that house," she said. "I want to have mine tested... I want to know how much lead, how much cadmium is in it."

Brown Inc. owns the Yard 520 landfill, where the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. landfilled more than one million tons of coal ash. Under an alternative Superfund agreement with the EPA, the companies have paid to provide municipal water to 270 homes and bottled water to 77 homes in 2003 and 2004, but not in Hahn's neighborhood.

Many residents at the more than three-hour meeting voiced their frustration that the pollution investigation and cleanup are progressing slowly.

"These people have been living since 2000, 2001, getting a cup of water from a bottle because they're afraid their water's not clean," Pines resident Cathi Murrey commented.

The companies have paid a contractor to investigate and write a report on how extensively groundwater, surface water and soil have been contaminated by metals, uranium, dioxins and radionuclides. But several residents, including George Adey, questioned how EPA can trust the companies that potentially caused the pollution to provide data on how bad the contamination is and whether it needs to be cleaned up.

"With enough money, I can get anyone to come in here and say anything," Adey said. "There's a conflict of interest there potentially."

EPA remedial project manager Tim Drexler said EPA has supervised much of the sampling and makes sure the work meets EPA standards.

"We don't have any reason to believe there's data going into this risk assessment that we don't trust," Drexler said.

EPA is reviewing comments on the report from the state, the National Park Service and a group of Pines residents. The EPA plans to finalize its review in the next month, along with a review of the companies' report on potential risks to human health and the ecosystem.

"We don't have any indication of large impacts beyond the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We don't have any reason to believe there's any impact on Lake Michigan," Drexler said.

If the EPA feels there may be a risk to humans or the environment, the agency will require the companies to make a more detailed report. If risks are high enough, the companies would be required to study cleanup options and their costs and the EPA would choose one of the cleanups.

Drexler said EPA hopes to have a decision by December 2011. It would take another six to eight months to get a court decision mandating the cleanup, he said.

[Southsider2k12]

Clips from the Paul Kysel interview from Sunday night on WIMS are being used in the news day on the station. you can hear his thoughts at half past the hour during the news.