6. April 2011 by admin.

~ Save Maumee’s 6th Annual Earth Day 2011
~ SUNDAY April 17 ~ WE are here for the cause….CLEANER WATERWAYS AND AWARNESS
~ 11AM - 4PM ~

All Ages ~ Rain or Shine ~  Action & Education ~ Seed Planting & Large Scale Erosion Control Project ~ Free Fun

Open-Non House…working on improving your rivers with only citizen sponsorship and 100% volunteers since 2005!  Looking for your back muscles!

See where to find the Earth Day fun CLICK HERE:

**Sign in and REGISTER FIRST and listen/read any information being presented about your rivers in Indiana - please sign the liability waiver, or you cannot participate.  (just keeping the lawyers happy :))Save Maumee Grassroots Organization is dedicated to raising awareness about the conditions of the 3 Rivers in Fort Wayne, Indiana while facilitating ecosystem restoration projects; ultimately repairing and improving the St. Joseph, St. Mary and Maumee Rivers. Revitalizing the St. Joe/Maumee Watershed will protect and restore the environment, while improving the economic, aesthetic and recreational value.  We are organizing hypothesis driven restoration projects, which place a high priority on monitoring, developing and restoring rivers with a positive environmental impact. Research into historical importance of our navigable waterways and current pollution conditions began in 2001 and Save Maumee began bank-stabilization projects in 2005 to begin the slow process of reversing years of pollution.

Watch our Earth Day Video from 2010!

Watch Save Maumee’s 2011 PSA

What else has been going on?

*Tree removal on Fort Wayne riverbanks due to potential levee disturbance: Save Maumee’s Response

*Saints on the Streets in Fort Wayne supporting cleaner waterways by encouraging homeless to clean up their streambanks…Save Maumee is proud that other groups and excited to know that other groups are working for the cause.

* HR 872 passed in the House: This exempts pesticides users who spray over water from obtaining a Clean Water Act permit. It will allow our waters to be polluted with high levels of pesticides which will damage public health and the environment. This legislation is a disaster.

Grand Lake St. Mary’s died in Ohio, so how is land application of industrial waste products being passed in Indiana HB 1112?  This will allow a variance from previously illegal land application of industrial waste products that were adopted by the water pollution control board for safety of citizens!  Another article may explain why this bill has been introduced.

* Save Maumee & other environmental groups made it to Washington D.C. for 2011 Clean Water Week! - See what we said

* Save Maumee has created a Public Service Announcement, and eagerly await play circulation!

* Our Save Maumee Presented at the Dash-In: Sounds of Saturn & Les Nester and brought in enough money to buy an entire bag of Midwestern Prairie Grass @ $530 per acre - we will be placing this under the erosion control mats!  Thank you everyone for making a GREAT evening with FREEBEE giveaways from: Green Dog, Neuhouser Nursery, Hall’s, Fort Wayne Outfitters/Bike Depot & Save Maumee goodies!

* Find out when the sewers discharge in Fort Wayne Rivers: To receive an alert email from City of Fort Wayne click here

* IF you think that The Maumee River is disgusting, this may give us a fresh perspective!

Other Happenings Around Town

April 29 through May 8th  - BUY A PAIR OF SHOES - Come on in to Fort Wayne Outfitters / Bike Depot and buy a pair of Patagonia Shoes! (rumored to be the most environmentally friendly shoes on Earth).  These two businesses are donating proceeds from sales of Patagonia Shoes to Save Maumee!

April 16   - Annual Eagle Marsh Clean-Up from 10:00am to 12:00pm
Meet at the Eagle Marsh barn for this annual clean-up to help remove litter from our restored habitats. Plants, wildlife and hikers will benefit. Please wear boots and bring gloves.

April 22  - Earth Day Tree Planting from 3:30pm to 4:30pm -
Meet at the Eagle Marsh barn. A tree planting at the largest habitat restoration project in the area is a wonderful way to spend some time on Earth Day. Join us to plant native trees and shrubs at Eagle Marsh. Please call 260-478-2515.

April 27th - Community-based Green Infrastructure FREE public webinar, you can use Save Maumee as your watershed group!
Register here

April 29 -   Arbor Day Tree Planting at Eagle Marsh from 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Senator Richard Lugar is sponsoring a tree planting at the largest habitat restoration project in the area to celebrate national Arbor Day. Plant native trees and shrubs in areas at Eagle Marsh. Please call 260-478-2515 or email b.yankowiak@lrwp.org if you will be bringing a group or if you are interested in being a team leader.

April 30th & May 1st - Sol-Fest at Fox Island – Celebrating the outdoors with food, music & sun. If you want to participate in the fun or run a booth. Check it out  http://allencountyparks.org/parks/fox-island/sol-fest-2008/

3rd Tuesday of every month - Green Drinks is looking for someone to organize Fort Wayne Green Drinks!  Please email Julia Gorrel at greendrinksfortwayne@gmail.com or 260.418.0071

June 25, 2011 - Riverfest on the banks of the St. Joe at IPFW!  Fun includes sea plane & water ski show, pontoon/kayak/canoe trips, fireworks, live entertainment on the rivers. Come & Celebrate the positive things about our rivers!  -  Steel Dynamics Inc. is title sponsor for RiverFest, sitting at the table with Save Maumee we look forward to the transparancy of business practices improve the health and wealth of our rivers!  Call Dan Wire (260) 580-7415 to get involved or check out://ipfwriverfest.org/

September 17, 2011-  Save Maumee’s 5th Annual Canoe Clean Up, Can YOU Clean Up? 
11am- 4pm Free canoes from Fort Wayne Outfitters Bike Depot with ID.  Spend a fun day with family and friends on the river cleaning up and educating yourself!  Canoe Clean-Up Details HERE

October 4 OR 24, 2011- Save Maumee’s 4th Annual Seed Harvest at Fox Island Nature Preserve 1pm - 4pm, exact date to be announced depending harvesting availability.   Seed Harvest Details HERE

===============================
Why Save Maumee chooses Earth Day?
“So long as the human species inhabits the Earth, proper management of its resources will be the most fundamental issue we face. Our very survival will depend upon whether or not we are able to preserve, protect and defend our environment. We are not free to decide about whether or not our environment “matters.” It does matter, apart from any political exigencies. We disregard the needs of our ecosystem at our mortal peril.” ~
~~U.S. Senator & Congressman Gaylord Nelson ~ Earth Day Founder [EPA JOURNAL, April 1980]

Our group is citizen driven only and 100% volunteer.

Thank you for your interest and caring about our local waterways! We ALL live downstream!

www.savemaumee.org
blog.savemaumee.org

Facebook - OUR NEW PAGE!
Twitter
A Greener Indiana

Posted in Links to Information YOU should know, Save Maumee Update, Indiana Waterways, Local Pollution Story, SM in the News!, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

1. April 2011 by admin.

VIDEO AND COVERAGE HERE:

Levee Tree Removal in Fort Wayne

It has recently come to the attention of Save Maumee that trees along the Maumee River and St. Mary’s River are indiscriminately being cut down by order of the Board of Public Works by orders of the US Army Corps of Engineers.  Apparently, this area of the riverbank lies on a levee and during one of the last big floods in Fort Wayne, the riverbank and the trees fell into the water.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of regulating levees by setting the safety guidelines and according to city planners, the US ACE directed the city to “remove the trees and make repairs or lose the acceptable rating of flood protection.”  This has resulted in the removal of hundreds of trees along the riverbanks of the Maumee River - in addition to trees removed from the St. Mary’s and St. Joe Rivers as well.

Straight from the Board Of Public Works

“Officials in Fort Wayne say there should be no trees cut down along the city’s flood levees because there aren’t any. The levees here were built by the corps in the 1990s, and the only trees near a levee are on the river side of the structure, where they slow the current and help stabilize the levee.  ‘Every year, (Army Corps inspectors) walk every inch of those levees,’ said Bob Kennedy, city public works director. Kennedy said the tree prohibition was issued by the corps in 2007, so any trees that needed to be cut down would have already been spotted and removed.” 
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/14/09.

Well Mr. Kennedy, you ARE cutting down trees, hundreds of them in the past 3 weeks.  Save Maumee recognizes the importance of levee safety and does not dispute that the city needs to be able to assess and observe the levees and keep our homes safe from floods.  We also recognize that the rivers are filthy; contaminated with E. coli, Mercury, PCB’s, nutrients, phosphorous, sewage, garbage and general pollution - and we do not see the city working to correct or repair any of these issues; aside from a federal mandate to separate the sewer and storm drains, which should have been started 20 years ago.  In the world of water, vegetation coexists along rivers.  The vegetation holds soil in place when water rises and falls.  Native plants with long taproots prevent soil from being washed downstream, filter water, attract diverse species of birds and insects, slow down and absorb water as it moves quickly through the banks during times of flooding and high water, while providing shade that increases Dissolved Oxygen in the water for wildlife.  Removal of that vegetation increases soil erosion.  Removal of vegetation is another reason streambanks to fall into the river.

Tree removal and stump grinding has been a hot discussion topic around town.  Between Ash Trees being removed due to the Emerald Ash Borer invasion (equaling 24% of the tree canopy in Fort Wayne) and the Oak Trees being eaten by the Gypsy Moths; no tree is sacred from removal or damage.  Now trees are being removed due to “potential levee disturbance.”  According to a former employee of the Corps Engineer and Research Development, “There has never been a documented problem with a tree.” (MSNBC- Associated Press 6/9/2009)  “The literature on the presence of vegetation indicates that it may actually strengthen a levee,” said Andrew Levesque, senior engineer for King County Washington. Yet, the mowing down of trees in Fort Wayne, never seems to end.  The city has no plans to replace the trees elsewhere, except in mowed city/county parks, and does not see a problem with tree removal. (Board of Public Works, April 2011)

Hurricanes breaking levees and the affects in Fort Wayne, IN?

Tree removal on levees has been an ongoing problem around the country since Hurricane Katrina blasted through New Orleans, destroying the levees built to protect the city.  Recognizing that part of the issue in New Orleans, was the failing levee system, the US ACE has taken a fresh look at all of the levee systems in the U.S.  They have compiled a list of blanket regulations that every city or county lying in a floodplain must follow.   The US ACE tightened its regulations with specific criteria regarding structure safety and vegetation.  But, they tightened their regulations claiming there is an understanding “that levee systems commonly share the same space as water conveyance and critical ecosystems and habitats, and that working with these interests is vital in effectively managing flood risks.”  (Recommendations for a National Levee Safety Program; A Report to Congress from the National Committee on Levee Safety, 2009)

Yet Fort Wayne indiscriminately cuts trees out on entire riverbanks without planning to replace them anywhere - while our rivers get dirtier and turn into culverts.

What do citizens say?

Concerned citizens have contacted Save Maumee regarding the removal of these trees, filling in of flood plains (approving permits and failing to enforce fines), business vehicles leaking directly into storm drains, waste gates being open with water flushing out during times without rain, concern about removal of vegetation without plans to replant elsewhere along the river and the lack of city planning that coincides with increasing the water and ecological quality along the banks, along with other issues.  In fact, we can be bold enough to say that our organization is working to correct more than a century of neglect, degradation, and abuse on the Maumee River in Fort Wayne and have yet to see others take an active approach to STOP pollution.  We see the city cutting down trees, changing the structure of the rivers, and having a continued disregard for the community’s greatest natural assets - which also directly affects those downstream from us.  And we (Save Maumee 100% volunteers) continue to pull tires, plastic, stoves, refrigerators, etc. out of the riverbanks while also planting the trees and vegetation that actually do some good.  ALL of which has been DNR approved.  The questions remain:  1) Who decides where these trees are removed? 2) Who is advising the board and the “experts” that have been consulted? 3) Who is footing the bill for this large scale project?

BEFORE                                                                                         AFTER

Army Corps issues tree chopping orders; Policy aimed at protecting levees draws fire from locals 

The above article states that “Army Corps of Engineers are on a mission to chop down every tree in the county Columbia LA…but later settled on a few dozen.”

The corps eventually dropped the idea because of state wildlife officials complained that the policy would destroy habitat, and residents in Sacramento and elsewhere objected that it would turned the rivers into more than barren culverts.  The corps eventually dropped the idea.

So why cut down every tree indiscriminately along the levees in Fort Wayne, IN?

Lawyers have sent a letter of inquiry into the massive tree removal along local riverbanks and we eagerly await the report.  See it here: Request for Information

All this came about in the Army Corps of Engineers in 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina smashing the New Orleans levees in Aug. 2005 and now letters from ACE are making their way into local requirements.  The Corps wants a way to protect levees, yet our riverbanks have nothing to do with a hurricane and the City of New Orleans being built below sea level and the levees bursting from the pressure of a violent ocean during a hurricane event. TREES had NOTHING to do with it!

One reason that city continues to have flooding issues may have to do with the land use.  More than 85% of Indiana’s wetlands have been eliminated since the 1800s, and many forested wetlands have been lumbered for their high-value hardwood.  More than five million acres of wetlands used to exist in the state, but just over 800,000 acres remain today.   Our wetlands are nature’s kidneys and filtrate pollution as well. Water is more destructive than fire, if you keep it at bay in one part of a rip/rap levee area…it will find a way to meander somewhere else; that area may never have flooded before.  Removing trees “may contribute to the erosion of the banks.”  It definitely contributes to the fast rising and falling of water levels called flashiness.   City planning remains to be poor, even though building previously on a floodplain was not this administrations mistake.  The city/county continually ignores the importance of the ecological systems along the rivers, which also provides safety to the quality of the waterways, fish, birds, etc. Highlights of Plan-it Allen - Allen County’s Comprehensive Plan

An old wise man, spoke of an idiom.   “Watch out for people who talk out of both sides of their mouth.”  This means ~ To say different things to different people on the same subject, in order to appease the one with whom you speak.   Save Maumee uses the old cliche’ to point out water issues…
Actions always speak louder than words.

Posted in Plants/Trees and Sustainable Planting, IN affects Great Lakes, How Fort Wayne, Indiana Waterways, SM in the News! | Print | 4 Comments »

2. January 2011 by admin.

Happy New Year…2011 here we come!  The Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day has a great turn out in Fort Wayne! Check out the video!    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOfdDsDpS70&feature=autofb

Posted in Indiana Waterways, Uncategorized | Print | 2 Comments »

20. December 2010 by admin.

1. Grow a Greenbelt: Establish a greenbelt or expand an existing one by adding more native plants.  Encourage your neighbors to do the same.  Buffers are helpful when it comes to water quality!

2. Fertilizer Smart: If you fertilize, refrain from fertilizing within 30′ of a shoreline/ditch/stream. DEFINITELY use no-phosphorus fertilizer.

3. Leave Trees: If a tree falls into the water leave it! They provide great habitat and contribute to the important carbon budget of the ecosystem.

4. Maintain Septic Systems: Failing septic systems can leach nutrients, which cause nuisance algae and plant growth.

5. Control Erosion: Stabilize shoreline erosion with bioengineering methods best management practices.

6. Join Forces: Support your local lake or river associations; they implement important resources protection projects and programs…like Save Maumee!

7. Stow Away: Store boats, boat hoists, docks and other equipment away from the shoreline; they can harm shoreline plants and compact soils.  Work on these machines and engines AWAY from the water to reduce leaks and spills.

8. Flow Away: Stormwater from driveways, roof tops, and other surfaces carries harmful pollutants.  Direct stormwater away from the street grates and allow it to infiltrate into the ground. (i.e. raingardens, rainbarrels, porous cement, wash car on lawn instead of driveway etc.)

9. Appreciate Aquatic Plants: Nearshore aquatic plants (growing in the water) are an important part of the lake and river ecosystems.  They offer valuable habitat and buffer wave energy.  See here for details: http://blog.savemaumee.org/2010/11/22/how-does-planting-trees-and-grasses-help/

10. Know the Law: Familiarize yourself with local, state, and federal regulations.  Permits are needed for some shoreline activities; be aware if any of your future plans require one.  Also, check to see if your county/municipality has a greenbelt ordinance.

11. When in Doubt? Call it Out: Hold government and corporation entities responsible!  Take a picture of laws that appear to be broken.  Send it to us! abby@savemaumee.org OR CALL Katie Englin at IDEM complaint hotline for immediate remediation: 317-232-4464

Posted in Plants/Trees and Sustainable Planting, IN affects Great Lakes, Blue Green Algae, Indiana Waterways, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

22. November 2010 by admin.

•      Siltation/erosion/sedimentation is the #1 pollutant in our watershed.  The grasses will help to settle out suspended sediment in the water to help hold down the soil that could be washed away because there is nothing to hold down the barren soil when the water comes rushing down during a rain event.

•      Grasses filtrate sediment by holding water for a longer period of time so the sediment settles to the bottom instead of traveling downstream. 

•     Removal of nutrients from the water before it passes downstream. 

•       Plants produce enzymes which will absorb and “eat” bacteria

•       Natural removal of chemical pollutants like fertilizers and waste materials removes nitrogen, phosphorous and toxins from surface water.

•       Creating more shade will help to create Dissolved Oxygen that is needed in the water for fish and other wildlife to “breathe.”

•       Floods problems can be alleviated - grassy knolls and trees can capture, store and slowly release water over a longer period of time

•       Protect shorelines through reduction of destructive energy from fast moving/ rising water

•       Alleviate pools of standing, stagnant water so West Nile will not have the opportunity to be passed on in the mosquito or human population

“87% of wetlands in Indiana no longer exist. Most of the forested river corridors in Allen County have been removed.  Water quality, stormwater drainage and sewage issues recognize no political boundaries and need regional coordination.” (Plan-It-Allen, 2007) So you will be aiding in replenishing wetland species right here!  Streambank stabilization projects are currently receiving 0 dollars in Indiana. (Soil & Water, 2008)  Please invest in Natural Capital!

Posted in Links to Information YOU should know, Plants/Trees and Sustainable Planting, Blue Green Algae, Chemicals in YOUR water, Indiana Waterways, Uncategorized | Print | 1 Comment »

14. October 2010 by admin.

It is ludicrous to the way that our rivers are treated.  I must speak my mind today because enforcement should be on every voters lips.  The most recent issue is the Maplecrest road extension to new SR 24 and related erosion problems.

I was sent an email August 9th by a fisherman that had stumbled upon the Maplecrest bridge project.  He told me that he was angered by the construction workers at the site and their littering along the banks.  He felt concerned they were not cleaning up their trash.  Here is the video he sent me… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHIGTQMeHyE
Upon viewing the footage, I noticed not the trash, but the EROSION! Our approximate 200ft wide river was reduced to a trickle of its former Maumee girth.  It appeared that the construction company had no erosion control techniques in place thus causing accelerated erosion. Construction permits must include erosion control techniques – ESPECIALLY when building on a floodplain!  So I took the next step and contacted the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and requested an inspection for the site.

SWCD came to the site, reporting there were zero erosion control techniques in place and then approached the Allen County Council with findings.  County Council are in charge of the coffer that is responsible for the building the road and the hiring of the construction contractors.  Allen County Council’s Nelson Peters (hearsay) said that we have larger issues than a little soil in the water.  Nothing happened with the erosion. I repeated this information to Mitch Harper to see if he could speak to the County Council.  I was told that I was repeating hearsay. [From the Soil and Water Conservation District…?]

I filed a complaint with IDEM on August 19. I was told that it could take their department between 30-60 days to have one of their inspectors go to the site.  IDEM is also a government agency that is not allowed to view anything on YouTube.  I was assured they would speed up the process, while also mentioning that the IDEM’s department of water was not being funded and she was leaving on vacation for the next week.

This construction company had a variance to build on a floodplain, and must provide erosion control techniques to keep the soil where it belongs, OUT of your rivers squelching life! Now saying this is expensive to remediate and bad timing for an inspection is ignorant. Maplecrest extension bridge is millions over budget and was part of their permits BEFORE they broke ground. This is a floodplain and needs permits to move dirt here.  ENFORCE THE LAWS - They are for the health & safety of citizens. IDEM is showing up Sept 28!!!!- here comes IDEM - seven weeks later?  When inspected the inspections still failed.- I encourage YOU to ask someone in which one of the boxes were checked that caused a failed inspection.  hhhhmmmm, cant?

I was then spurred to write this letter to the editor….that was approved by the Journal Gazette…but never published.

Allen County Commission should be responsible for the actions of the contractors hired to build the Maplecrest extension road and adjacent bridge.  Upon inspection of the river areas, there are no erosion control techniques in place (which is part of their building permits).  The land is suffocating the stream and all of the wildlife in this area.  These facts were brought to the attention of County Commissioner, Nelson Peters, but alas there are more pending issues than a little soil in the water.  Part of the problem with our rivers is the fact that even our agents responsible for our natural resources continue to side with big business rather than the interests of the population they represent.  Permit parameters are put-in-place for the safety of people.  If Allen County continues to turn its back to the rivers and continue to not enforce permits, other areas will follow suit.  Stop the erosion NOW County Commission.  I have video of the construction of the Maplecrest road extension area and the decimation of the Maumee.  Erosion and sediment continue to be the #1 problem with our waterways, be part of the solution.  Check it out for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHIGTQMeHyE

———————————————————

This is another video the fisherman had uploaded about the litter in the area as well… http://www.youtube.com/user/balex222 - beware - he used the F word at the end of the video, although Save Maumee does not endorse this language, his frustration boiled over.

This is one small example of how our laws are made for protection, but without enforcement why do we spend the money to write and pass legislation?  This is common sense….I guess it is just not that common anymore…

Nice song and dance though.

Thoughts?

Published: September 11, 2010 3:00 a.m.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100911/LOCAL/309119972/1002/LOCAL

County told to control dirt

Maplecrest work inspection finds soil entering Maumee

Amanda Iacone | The Journal Gazette

FORT WAYNE – Inspectors say the Allen County Highway Department and contractor Primco are not following their plan to prevent soil and sediment from flowing into the Maumee River during construction of the $38 million Maplecrest Road extension.

A report from the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, the first line of defense to ensure construction sites meet stormwater regulations, determined that the project’s erosion control methods were unsatisfactory in seven out of nine categories during an inspection last week. The inspector found sediment being tracked onto nearby streets and that sediment is entering the Maumee River through roadside ditches.

“The site is fully under construction without any working sediment controls in place,” the report said.

County officials said they are complying with its erosion control plan, which was approved by the state, but plan to work with the soil and water conservation district to comply with its requirements.

But poor timing affected inspection results, said Kyle Winling, project manager for the highway department.

Contractors are about to begin planting permanent grass seed along the slopes of the new roadbed on the south end of the river and had talked about doing the same on the northern roadbeds. The dirt roadbeds and slopes will lie untouched for the next year as contractors focus on building the bridge across the river, Winling said.

Trucks had also just finished hauling in concrete beams for the bridge and dirt was added on top of a construction path made of small boulders to ensure a smoother surface for the oversized trailers. That dirt will be removed from the river’s edge, he said.

Winling didn’t know yet how much it would cost to meet the added requirements. Any additions would come as a change order to the contract with Primco, he said.

Similar changes to the erosion control plan last spring cost between $10,000 to $20,000. But planting temporary grass along the slopes and future roadbeds that stretch through the almost 20-acre construction site could be costly, Winling said.

The county and contractor Primco have until Thursday to correct the problems. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management also plans to inspect the site Sept. 28, said Sharon Partridge-Hall, the construction site inspector for the soil and water conservation district.

Her report and inspection are considered preliminary steps, so the county does not face any fines. IDEM would be responsible for enforcement and investigations if the problems continue, Partridge-Hall said.

Recommended changes include building proper construction entrances and planting temporary and permanent grass seed or mulch. The county is also required to remove piles of dirt lying in ditches that run alongside Indiana 930 near Adams Center Road, where Maplecrest will be extended to. And any temporary roads leading to the river cannot be dirt, the report said.

Any areas that will lie dormant for 15 days must be seeded with temporary grass or mulch to comply with the state’s rules, she said.

Because the Maplecrest construction will have a direct effect on the river, Partridge-Hall had recommended the county beef up its plan to address stormwater runoff and erosion during an inspection this spring. A different staff member reviewed the county’s original erosion control plan, she said.

Any sediment that enters the Maumee eventually flows into the Toledo harbor at the edge of Lake Erie. Dredging the sediment that fills the harbor is a multimillion-dollar problem, Partridge-Hall said.

To reduce that sediment, work sites and farms are required to minimize the effects of rainwater, which washes soil into ditches and then into the river and eventually the harbor.

The county, which oversees and enforces stormwater control plans for private developers, has the opportunity to set the bar with the Maplecrest project, Partridge-Hall said.

aiacone@jg.net

In the above article I read, “Similar changes to the erosion control plan last spring cost between $10,000 to $20,000. But planting temporary grass along the slopes and future roadbeds that stretch through the almost 20-acre construction site could be costly, Winling said.”

This is ridiculous! To even break ground on ANY construction project, one must have the permits in place that tell how the erosion will be dealt with, and then DO IT.  Costly WAS INCLUDED on the price of our tax dollars to build this thing properly in the first place.

Thank you for reading this…I feel strongly that many other construction sites need oversight as well.

Posted in How Fort Wayne, Indiana Waterways | Print | 1 Comment »

21. March 2010 by admin.

United States Environmental Protection Agency says The Grand Calumet River has the most problems of any river in the USA.  The Grand Calumet is located in Indiana-along Lake Michigan between Gary, IN and East Chicago, IL.

Post Tribune:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2010/03/energy-unsafe-river-in-indiana-faces-long-recuperation/

The interesting part in this article that caught my attention was The Grand Calumet and the Maumee have several similarities.   I believe reading that the sediment with problems runs about 8-12 inches deep in the Maumee.
While the Maumee has 42 (down from 44) combined sewer overflows (CSO’s) that average discharges 71 times per year, litterally spewing millions of gallons of toilet water into local rivers anually. Allen County is the only county that can have discharging residential septic systems. All other residential systems in the state use the soil to treat their wastewater and the effluent becomes groundwater (which may or may not recharge a stream somewhere down the line). Allen is the only county that can have a pipe from the systems to the stream and there are a lot of strings attached to that permit to be sure that the effluent that is going into the stream is clean -but oversight is always underfunded.

…a few highlights from the article that reflect our own waterways …

“Historically, industry and municipalities in the region used the river as a sewer for their waste. For about a century, steel mills and treatment plants have spewed untold amounts of heavy metals, pesticides, bacteria and pollutants that can cause cancer in humans into the river.”- both rivers
“Today, elevated levels of mercury, lead, cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyls lie buried in the Grand Cal to a depth of up to 11.5 feet below ground surface, according to the EPA. The river also has problems with oil and grease and too little oxygen. EPA estimates that the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal contain 5 million to 10 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment up to 20 feet deep.”

The Grand Calumet has 15 CSO’s discharging an extimated 11 billion gallons of raw wastewater into the harbor and river.  About 57% of that is discharged within 8 miles of Lake Michigan….contributing to E. coli and beach closings from bacteria.

Stormwater runoff and water leached out from 11 waste disposal and storage sites located within 0.2 miles of the river continue to degrade water quality.

Five Superfund sites, the most contaminated places in the nation, are located in the area. So are 423 hazardous waste sites. And more than 150 leaking underground storage petroleum tanks. Air pollution and contaminated groundwater also affect the river, EPA says.

Today, about 90 percent of the river consists of wastewater from industry and sewage from municipal treatment plants, EPA says.

When officials assess the health of a river, they judge it based on 14 possible “beneficial uses,” such as whether people can swim in the river or eat fish from it and whether the river has the variety of bugs that would be expected in similar places.

The Grand Calumet is the only river in the United States that’s impaired in all 14 possible ways, said Gary Gulezian, director of EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.

The Grand Calumet River and the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal were identified in 1987 as an “area of concern.”

“Until we address the legacy sediment, we won’t have a river that can restore itself and is safe for all, for the ecosystem and for human health,” said Dorreen Carey, director of the department of environment with the city of Gary. “But in the meantime, it’s always been my position there’s lots of things we can do to contribute to cleaning up the river.”

Stormwater runoff, NPDES & combined sewer overflows to the river need to be reduced.

- NPDES is a legal straight pipe discharge called a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit - they need more oversight and fines for going over legal limits or spills.

Posted in Indiana Waterways | Print | No Comments »