News Tagged ‘IDEM’

In an effort to recognize Indiana’s extraordinary environmental stewards and projects aimed at preventing pollution in 2011 and 2012, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is now accepting nominations and applications for the 2013 Indiana Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence. Nominations and applications may be submitted to IDEM through April 19.

Hoosier businesses, schools, trade associations, environmental groups, nonprofit organizations and individuals are eligible for the awards program, which includes such categories as Energy and Renewable Resources, Five Years’ Continuous Improvement, Greening the Government, Land Use, Outreach or Education, Pollution Prevention, and Recycling or Reuse.

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Inspectors from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management made their way to the hog farm owned by Lee Nagai at 1755 E. 400 N. in Knox on Friday to investigate complaints of a potent manure smell emitting from the farm. Barry Sneed from IDEM said they received four complaints Friday. He explains why the odor from the farm was so strong and was experienced for miles away.

“Obviously, the manure has an odor to it to begin with and there are certain times of year that the farmers will apply the manure to the field and usually it’s when there’s no crops in the field,” said Sneed. “They have to keep their manure lagoons down to a certain level and so as a result, they’ll have to apply that to the field.”

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The Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducted an investigation into Starke County Recycling, Inc., C&C Salvage and a number of other businesses in Knox owned by James L. Campbell. As a result of the investigation, IDEM has made a preliminary determination that violations were made of environmental management laws and rules, and the department has proposed an Agreed Order constituting a settlement.

The order proposed requires Campbell to submit to a site assessment plan to allow them to assess potential contamination of soil, ground, water, and vapors from the areas in question. Within 15 days of receiving notice from IDEM of approval of the site assessment plan, Campbell would be required to implement the plan, and submit within 45 days a remediation work plan identifying potential contaminates, receptors, and exposure pathways to allow IDEM to identify all contamination. He would then implement the remedial actions within 15 days after the work plan’s approval. Finally, within 30 days after implementation, Campbell would have to submit to an IDEM certification to ensure the actions have been completed.

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The Knox City Council this week discussed the results of their controlled burn to dispose of tree waste from the June and July storms. Mayor Rick Chambers explained to the council that he had received several complaints concerning ash and soot from the fire, and one resident had filed a police report regarding damage to his vehicle from burning ash that had fallen on the car.

Chambers told the council that he sent the incident report of the damage to the city’s insurance company. The man is claiming $492 in damage, stating that the car requires a “wash and buff job,” and while Chambers feels that’s a little expensive for such a job, he has forwarded the information to the city’s insurance company to allow them to deal with sorting it out.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management granted the city’s burn permit on Aug. 9, allowing the city 30 days to conduct the burn. According to the permit, the city was allowed to conduct the controlled burn at the Starke County Highway Garage, Knox City Dump, or Wythogan Park, and the council decided that the dump was the safest place for the burn.

The Knox City Council discussed the controlled burn to dispose of the collected brush and debris from the June and July storms.

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the council that the burn was supposed to take place earlier this week but the community has voiced its concern, so Chambers says he wanted to bring it to the council for further discussion. Chambers says the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has given the city its approval for the burn.

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A local scrap yard is under fire for allegedly committing numerous Indiana Department of Environmental Management violations, and a hearing was held yesterday in the Starke Circuit Court regarding the allegations. Attorney Steve Dodge appeared in court with Starke County Zoning Administrator Bruce Williams, who presented evidence of numerous violations committed by C&C Salvage, located near the intersection of U.S. 35 and Toto Road.

According to a summary letter of an inspection conducted at the site by IDEM on May 21, there are locations where it is evident that fluids such as oil had been released onto the ground, and at least one location has several vehicle motors sitting on the ground with evidence of standing around them. Further, there are burned trees at the back of the property from a fire, and C&C Salvage Manager Jose Delgado reportedly said a pile of scrap had caught fire. There is also a small pond on the property that is full of debris including railroad ties, tires, trash, and scrap materials.

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Crews remain on the scene of a train derailment near Ligonier which spilled nearly 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur and toluene. The car that was carrying the molten sulfur had burst into flames after the derailment of 27 cars of the 59-car train. Crews have smothered the burning train cars with clean soil, and officials say that once the fires are completely extinguished, they will get rid of the dirt and remove the cars.

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Winamac Wastewater Superintendent, Brad Zellers, came before the Winamac Town Board this week to report on the $5.2 million dollar sewer separation project. Zellers said the project is actually ahead of schedule and that all of the pipes are in the ground. The installation of some manholes and catch basins have yet to be completed. Also to be determined is if the compaction is adequate to pave the streets. IDEM rules are that the pipes must be in the ground 30 days before the paving can begin, which would put it in the middle of November.

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Mint farmer, Mike Materna, of Hamlet, will be sentenced in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, October 5th. He plead guilty to one count of Discharge of Pollutants without a Permit in violation of the Clean Air Act. He reportedly admitted in court that he discharged hot water into a ditch without the proper permit.

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