US Steel plant in Indiana spills contaminated wastewater into Lake Michigan

On Tuesday, April 11, US Steel’s plant in Portage, Indiana, reported a spill of wastewater into the Burns Waterway just 100 yards from Lake Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that the wastewater contained hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen.

Other agencies alerted of the leak on Tuesday morning included the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), National Park Services (NPS), the Coast Guard, and the Porter County Sheriff.

It is not clear for how long the spill occurred or how much wastewater spilled. Initial reports claim that the cause for the spill was a failed expansion in the rinse water pipe used to treat strip steel after electroplating. US Steel reported that it shut down all production processes, isolated the affected piping for repairs, and added sodium trithiocarbonate to the wastewater to convert and aid in removing the toxic compound.

Indiana American Water, which provides drinking water in northwestern Indiana, shut down its Ogden Dunes water-processing facility, which has an intake adjacent to Burns Waterway, and is using water reserves from Gary, Indiana, until further notice. NPS closed three local beaches on Tuesday and a fourth one on Wednesday citing precautions to protect residents in a three-mile perimeter from the spill.

Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/14/usst-a14.html