E.C. dredging plan goes to residents

EAST CHICAGO | Residents will get a chance Wednesday to question officials about the storage of toxic materials to be dredged from the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to remove some 4.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the waterways and permanently store the material at a disposal facility under construction at the former Sinclair Oil refinery at Indianapolis Boulevard and Riley Road.

Representatives from the Army Corps and the East Chicago Waterway Management District -- local sponsor of the 30-year, $150 million project -- will be on hand from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 4525 Indianapolis Blvd.

"We feel it is important to continue to keep the public informed as we work to complete construction of the disposal facility and finalize plans for dredging operations," said David Wethington, Army Corps project manager.

Engineers will discuss progress on a control system to keep polluted groundwater from leaving the 275-acre property and a newly restored sea wall to prevent toxic runoff from re-entering the canal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated both safeguards.

Dredging is scheduled to begin in 2011. Team members will be available Wednesday to talk about future operations of the disposal facility, as well the air monitoring system in place once dredging begins.

Copies of the Army Corps' environmental guidance document also will be available.

An unregulated industrial dump for more than a century, the harbor and canal are considered by the EPA to be the most polluted waterways in the Great Lakes ecosystem, with an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of toxic sediment washing into Lake Michigan each year.

The sediment, accumulating since the harbor and canal last were dredged in 1972, also is a concern for industries. The increasingly shallow depth limits how much cargo they can ship.