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Jan
18
Chicago Pollutes NWI Air
Filed Under air quality, Chicago, environment, IDEM, Lake County, Northwest Indiana, Porter County | Comments Off
An IDEM official says that Chicago is polluting Northwest Indiana air.
Writes the Post-Tribune’s Gitte Laasby:
When Lake and Porter counties have ozone problems on hot days, don’t blame the region’s heavy lakeshore industries. Indiana’s top environmental official suggests you look toward Chicago instead.
“The No. 1 contributor (to ozone problems in Lake and Porter counties) is Chicago,” Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Tom Easterly said in a recent Portage appearance.
Not so fast, an Illinois public heath expert counters. …
It makes sense that the wind blowing from the west would carry away pollution created in Illinois into Northwest Indiana. But, I still wouldn’t give Indiana’s heavy industries free reign to pump out more pollution just because Chicago is contributing to our air quality problems.
Dec
23
Still Discharging Into Lake Michigan
Filed Under environment, Lake Michigan | Comments Off
Less pollutants are going into Lake Michigan than in the past, but millions of pounds are still making their way into the Great Lake.
The Post-Tribune’s Gitte Laasby writes about the Clean Water Act‘s effect in Northwest Indiana in today’s paper.
The Clean Water Act set out to “virtually eliminate” discharges to U.S. waterways by 1985. But a Post-Tribune analysis shows Indiana’s major facilities discharged more than 378 million pounds of pollutants into Lake Michigan and its tributaries in just one year.
Dumping of nearly all pollutants discharged by Indiana’s 33 major polluters has fallen dramatically since 1979. The Clean Water Act has made a difference.
But it hasn’t reached its goal of zero discharges, or come near it.
