LOWELL | Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said he will ask the governor to intervene in a fight between him and state environmental officials over the Feddeler landfill.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued a warning to Dominguez that it will impose a fine of up to $25,000 per day if the county doesn't seal four wells its contractor dug into the 40-acre site off Ind. 2 near Parrish Avenue, west of town, to look for hazardous material.
Dominguez said Tuesday he has asked for a meeting with Gov. Mitch Daniels to keep the wells open and make the state use them for further testing.
The sheriff alleged last fall there was possible evidence the landfill was emitting potentially fatal cyanide vapors. The county later spent $50,000 to build a fence around the section of the landfill where the wells are located.
IDEM later concluded from its own testing there was no health risk to off-site residents and demanded the wells be closed to prevent any pollution leaking from them into ground or surface water.
Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said Tuesday, "We were under the impression we were going to ... do a test together, the same wells that we tested from and the same wells that the EPA tested from and then (send them to) an independent lab.
"We were supposed to do that in July or August and the state sent us a letter that said, 'No. You've got to cover up your wells. They're no good, you're contaminating everything, and we're not doing any testing.' So they went back on their word completely," Scheub said.
Amy Hartsock, a public information officer for IDEM, said Tuesday her agency already is monitoring the landfill through a series of approved wells situated around the perimeter of the landfill.
IDEM also is challenging the existence of the sheriff's environmental crimes task force. It has obtained a legal opinion from the Indiana attorney general's office that state law gives it almost complete authority to regulate and enforce state environmental laws, pre-empting county enforcement actions.
The sheriff said the constitution and county ordinance give him the authority he needs in this case. "I'm simply trying to protect the citizens. I think the state is playing politics."
