Tag Archives: Groundwater

HEADLINES All Stories By Norm Holy WFYI reports that the new executive director for the Hoosier Environmental Council hopes to tackle some big issues in his new role. Sam Carpenter said Indiana has several areas of concern when it comes to the environment. Since its accidental introduction near Detroit, Michigan, in the mid-1990s, emerald ash borer (EAB) has rapidly spread …

In April of last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added a hazardous waste site in Spencer, Indiana to the Superfund’s National Priorities List. The EPA says contamination at the downtown Franklin Street Groundwater Contamination Site in Spencer, was, “due to the risk [chemicals] pose to human health and the environment.” In particular, the EPA cites contamination of the carcinogenic …

The town of Spencer resisted being named a Superfund site by the EPA. According to EPA documents obtained by WFHB, Spencer officials pushed back on the EPA’s designation, due to fears that being named a Superfund site would negatively affect property values. The town’s aquifer was named a Superfund site by the EPA last month. Superfund sites are eligible for …

Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources withdrew two controversial rule changes, which would have created a bobcat hunting season and would have required state-approved animal control workers to euthanize captured raccoons, coyotes and opossums; The General Assembly approved an oversight committee yesterday, to investigate issues plaguing Indiana’s Department of Child Services; Bloomington Public Works Director Adam Wason reports a rapidly changing, …

The Environmental Protection Agency is hearing testimony from environmental advocates in D.C. today, ahead of a proposed rule change in coal ash pond regulations. Coal ash from power plants is often kept in ponds or lagoons near waterways. When coal is burned several heavy metals, including arsenic are left in the ash. Under an Obama Administration rule, energy companies were …

A new report shows groundwater across the state is being contaminated by unsafe amounts of toxic heavy metals from coal ash. The residue left over from coal-fired power plants, coal ash is either stored in large watery ponds or lagoons, or shipped away and buried. The Hoosier Environmental Council is warning that the latest data, provided by energy companies themselves, …