ODEAB Publishes Recycling Guide

In response to residents' ongoing questions regarding recycling in Ogden Dunes, the Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board (ODEAB) recently published A Guide to Recycling Ogden Dunes. A .pdf of the document may be found on .
http://www.ogdendunes.net/images/Guide_to_Recyling_in_Ogden_Dunes.pdf
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The Guide was developed through a phone interview with Jim Smith at Able Disposal, and by researching recycling information available from the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County.

One objective of the document is to increase how much solid waste in Ogden Dunes is prevented from entering a landfill. Currently, the town's diversion rate is 25 percent, which is strong for the area, but short of the nationwide average of 32 percent.

According to resident Randi Light, 75% of our trash can be recycled. Randi should know -- she used to work for the City of San Francisco in recycling education. "The benefits of recycling go well beyond waste reduction," said Randi in a recycling fun facts document provided to the ODEAB. "For instance, recycling all of your home's waste newsprint, cardboard, glass, and metal can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds a year. Recycling one ton of paper saves the equivalent of 17 trees, enough energy to power an average home for 6 months, and 7,000 gallons of water; and keeps 60 pounds of pollutants out of the air," she said.

Take a look at the Guide and let the ODEAB know if you have any additional comments or questions. A few printed copies will be placed in the Town Hall. Recycling markets can change periodically, opening up new possibilities for increasing recycling output. Be sure to check the document periodically for new information.

DNR Grants Town Hearing on Burns Waterway Dredging Project

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently acknowledged the Town’s request for a Public Hearing on the Burns Waterway small boat harbor dredging project being proposed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). USACE has been proposing disposal of the dredgings on or near the Ogden Dunes beach. A hearing will hopefully be scheduled soon after the holidays. The hearing is especially important because the permit will be in effect for five years, meaning that USACE would be able to conduct these activities yearly without any recourse or notification to residents.

DNR permits for the dredging project have been officially noticed to the public and may be found on the DNR website at http://www.state.in.us/dnr/files/wa-112008.pdf (pages 4 and 9 of the .pdf document). Documentation may also be found in the DNR water permits database on http://www.in.gov/serv/dnr_water_permit_query. The permit application numbers are FW-25073 and LM-163. If the project is funded by the federal government, it is slated to start some time in 2009.

DNR permits are required because the dredging project will help maintain this navigable waterway, which is also considered a “floodway.” There are two permits because one is required for dredging the Burns Waterway; and one is required for dredging the entrance, which is actually in Lake Michigan.

The dredging project came to the attention of town officials in October 2008 when residents on Shore Dr. received a preliminary Public Notice about the project from USACE. Several residents expressed concern about the previous dredging project conducted in 2000. At that time an abnormal amount of garbage, such as shredded aluminum cans and glass; and silty, bad-smelling sediment was hydraulically dredged and placed on the far-east end of the Ogden Dunes beach for beach nourishment. In addition, concern has been expressed about contaminants that may have washed down the 331-mile Burns Waterway watershed during the September 12-13 floods in Northwest Indiana. Testing on the material was conducted in 2008 before the flooding occurred. The National Park Service has also requested that the material be re-tested.









To comply with Indiana Law, residents and the Town will be sent the public notice again, which will be confusing to some people. The main difference between the two notices is that the first notice indicated that only the small boat harbor of refuge would be dredged. The DNR and USACE have now come to an agreement that the permit will encompass dredging of the harbor of refuge, the channel as well as the entrance to the harbor (see the photo above for the specific areas to be dredged).

It is not the Town’s position to prevent the waterway from being dredged. Town officials simply want to be clear about the quality of the material that will be dredged and are requesting that additional testing be completed. The Town needs to seriously consider the implications of turning away this material outright. It’s very obvious that the beach is again in need of nourishment.

The National Park Service, which owns the beach at the Portage Lakefront site and has a walking easement on the Ogden Dunes beach, has been adamant about not having the sand placed directly on the beach because of their experiences with the material that was previously dredged and placed on the beach in 2000. That material contained many non-native species seeds that are now establishing themselves in the Portage Lakefront Site area. The material also contained a lot of silt, which can blow easily behind the foredunes and change the composition of the soil in that area.

After a site visit to the area on November 21, which included officials from DNR, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), USACE and NPS, USACE is now leaning toward placing the dredged material in the littoral drift, at about 300’ off shore, instead of on the beach. This is approximately the same location as the sand that is currently being dumped there from the NIPSCO intake. DNR and USACE seem to feel that the wave action in the lake would help drop out any seeds, silty sediment and other contaminants that residents might find objectionable.

Residents concerned about the current erosion on the beach should be assured that requesting a Public Hearing is by no means slowing down the project. The project still requires a Section 401 Water Quality Certification Permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). In addition, no federal money has yet been appropriated for the project; and no material could even be dredged before mid-July due to DNR rules related to the salmon-spawning season.

IDEM would rather that the material be placed on the beach so that it does not add to ammonia and nutrient-loading in Lake Michigan, which can impact water quality, increase algae growth and affect the food web in the lake. They would like to see it placed in a bermed area so that it could not wash back into the lake. They recognize, however, that there simply is not enough room to accomplish that. The public will also have an opportunity to comment on that permit once it is public noticed.

It’s interesting to note that the sediment is somewhat different in the various parts of the project area. While sediment within the channel of the small boat harbor may be influenced by silt from Burns Waterway, sediment in the entrance of the waterway may have higher concentrations of sand because of wave action and westerly winds pushing sand from Lake Michigan into the mouth of the waterway, which generally has a fairly slow current.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to USACE about the project has been fulfilled to the Town, including a document that contains sediment sampling results, elutriate analysis, which helps predict the concentration of contaminants in the water column at the point of dredging; and information on proposed sediment disposal sites being evaluated. If you wish to see a copy of these materials, please contact Susan MiHalo at spsmodin@verizon.net or send an FOI request to USACE referencing the Burns Small Boat Harbor Dredging Project (http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/foia.html). USACE will send the information in a .pdf format on a CD at no charge.

The town will let you know as soon as a Public Hearing is scheduled. Participants in the Public Hearing are urged to familiarize themselves with the project parameters and contaminant analysis prior to the meeting as questions will only be considered that are limited to the permitting statutes of DNR outlined in Indiana Code 14-28-1 and IC 14-29-1. DNR’s jurisdiction under the Flood Control Act, IC-14-28-1, is confined to the floodway of the stream and its review is limited to the following criteria:

A project must demonstrate that it will:
(1) Not adversely affect the efficiency and capacity of the floodway. The project cannot result in an increase in flood stages of more than 0.14 feet above the base 100-year regulatory flood elevation;
(2) Not constitute an unreasonable hazard to the safety of life or property. This is defined as, the project will not result in either of the following during the regulatory
flood: a loss of human life or damage to public or private property to which the applicant has neither ownership nor a flood easement; and
(3) Not result in unreasonably detrimental effects upon fish, wildlife, or botanical resources. In addition, the Department must consider the cumulative effects of these three issues.

In addition, DNR’s jurisdiction under IC 14-29-1 is confined to the area at or lakeward of the ordinary high water mark of Lake Michigan and requires the DNR to evaluate if the USACE proposal will do any of the following:
(1) unreasonably impair the navigability of the waterway;
(2) cause significant harm to the environment;
(3) pose an unreasonable hazard to life or property.