Dredging Meeting Feb. 10, IDEM Permit Public-Noticed

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Public Hearing regarding the Burns Small Boat Harbor dredging project has been rescheduled for February 10, 2009 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Ogden Dunes Firehouse. Residents are encouraged to attend.

Several recommendations will be made by the Town at a Public Hearing to be held regarding the permit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has applied for from DNR to dredge the Burns Small Boat Harbor and entrance to the waterway. The dredgings may be placed on the Ogden Dunes beach or in the littoral drift just off the beach.

To see a copy of the Town's letter on the project to DNR, to be presented at the Hearing, visit http://www.ogdendunes.net/images/Position_paper_on_dredging_as_of_1-11-09.pdf or see the blog posting below from January 11, 2009 (http://odeab.blogspot.com/2009/01/town-to-air-concerns-at-dnr-hearing-on.html).

USACE also had to apply for a Section 401 Water Quality Certification Permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), and that permit is up for public notice as well until February 6. The ODEAB is trying to obtain a copy of the permit application. If you would like to receive a copy, please contact Susan MiHalo at spsmodin@verizon.net. The ODEAB plans to submit a few comments on this permit as well.

IAW Receives Notice of Violation, Starts Lagoon Replacement Project

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) recently issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Indiana American Water Co. (IAW) for unlawful discharges into Long Lake through the backwash retention pond that sits behind its water filtration plant on Diana Rd. in Ogden Dunes.

More than 82 acres, Long Lake is a state and federally listed wetland of which less than 10 acres are situated in Ogden Dunes. The remaining wetland belongs to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The water in the retention pond (which can be viewed in the photo below) results from IAW backflushing its filters every 24-48 hours, which allegedly releases upwards to 130,000 gallons of water into the enclosure.

According to the NOV: “On April 4, 2007, representatives of IDEM conducted an investigation of a release of an unknown amount of backwash water from the retention pond into Long Lake.” Furthermore, the NOV states that “IDEM’s investigation has also revealed the potential for continuing subsurface discharges from the backwash retention pond to Long Lake due to the fact that the retention pond is uncovered and unlined.”

The ODEAB alleges that subsurface discharges cited in the NOV may be an important contributing factor to the high ground water and surface water levels being experienced on Diana Ct., Diana Rd. and Indian Camp Trail this past three years. Other major contributing factors may include:

• Higher than normal precipitation (more than 250 percent of normal in recent months) this past three years.
• Due to its nature as a swale wetland, there are no surface streams that quickly take the water out of the lake.
• Water seeps slowly underground from the wetland into the aquifer below and possibly into drainage ditches on U.S. 12 and County Line Rd. that have not been maintained in many years. (It should be noted, however, that underground seepage rates and patterns are very difficult to study; and connections to any drainage ditches have not been proven.)
• Some homes in the vicinity of Long Lake and Indian Camp Trail were built on fill that was used to create the subdivision where the Water Filtration Plant is located, known as the 5th Subdivision of Ogden Dunes. Without the fill, those homes would have been in or on the edge of Long Lake.

The cited discharge is unlawful because IAW does not have a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from IDEM for discharging into Long Lake. A copy of the NOV may be found at (http://www.state.in.us/idem/oe/cause/NOV/18172-W.htm). Unfortunately, however, as provided by Indiana law, an alleged violator may enter into an Agreed Order to resolve the NOV without admitting that the violations occurred. In other words, IAW does not have to admit any fault for the flooding issue.

IAW officials are meeting with IDEM officials on January 27 to discuss the terms of the Agreed Order. The ODEAB has encouraged IDEM to have the Agreed Order include a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) that could potentially fund on-the-ground work to help understand, monitor and alleviate the high ground water problems. There is no guarantee that this will happen; however SEPs can be attractive in that they lower fines paid to IDEM and can result in more benefits to those impacted by the discharge.

The Agreed Order is also an important critical step in making sure that a replacement schedule for the retention pond will be adhered to by IAW, which has been working on engineering and construction plans for replacing the backwash retention pond for more than a year. The facilities are planned to be constructed west of the air monitoring station and electrical substation in the southeast corner of the existing backwash impoundment.

(Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

According to Ken Buczek, PE, Director, Production – IN and MI, IAW, site preparation work for replacing the backwash retention pond with two holding basins has already begun. Residents have reported seeing dump trucks of stone being hauled into the plant and that an excavator appears to be sitting on the south dike.

The stone is being used to construct a road to the job site; and sheet piling will be driven into the ground to prepare the area to be filled. The filled area will hold the backwash holding basins as well as future sludge thickening and dewatering facilities that will be constructed later.

Once the sheet piling is in place, unsuitable soils will be excavated from the area, and a foundation appropriate to the soils will be installed to support the new structures.

Any further construction of the facility must await an approved construction permit to be issued by IDEM. The permit application includes design drawings and specifications, and should be approved within 30 days of submission. IAW’s goal is to complete the new holding basins and have them operating by June 2009.

The ODEAB has asked IDEM to have IAW document what will happen to the old retention pond once it is no longer being used.

Town to Air Concerns at DNR Hearing on Dredging

Several recommendations will be made by the Town at a Public Hearing to be held regarding the permit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has applied for from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to dredge the Burns Small Boat Harbor and entrance to the waterway. The dredgings may be placed on the Ogden Dunes beach or in the littoral drift just off the beach. The Hearing will be held at the Firehouse on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Residents are encouraged to attend.

Recommendations to be aired by the Town include the following:

1. USACE should not be able to leave garbage on the beach: When the Small Boat Harbor and entrance were hydraulically dredged in 2000 and the material was placed east of Ogden Dunes, the material contained shredded aluminum cans, broken glass and other materials. The Town of Ogden Dunes has limited resources to keep its beach free of waste. It should be the responsibility of USACE to make sure any garbage or debris resulting from the dredging operation is cleaned up. It may even be possible that USACE may not be able to leave garbage on the beach, according to Indiana Code 14-28, Article 28, which is the Flood Control Act under which this permit is being regulated. (http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title14/ar28/ch1.html.)

2. Retesting is Requested: During the September 2008 flooding event, more than 331-square miles of floodwater and effluent drained out of Burns Waterway into the Small Boat Harbor and Lake Michigan. The material proposed to be dredged was tested several months before that flooding incident. It is the Town’s position that the material proposed to be dredged should be retested.

Furthermore, the Town recommends that core sample analysis concentrate on the upper strata of the core where contamination is more likely to exist. Conducting sampling in any other manner may not provide an adequate representation of what is contained in what would most likely be stratified sediments.

3. A Debris Survey Should be Conducted: With the amount of debris that is still landing on our beach, including paint cans, whiskey bottles, fishing lures, spray cans and docks, it is strongly recommended that a debris survey be conducted by USACE. This survey will not only benefit the Town, residents, Lake Michigan and the environment, it will also protect USACE’s dredging equipment. These surveys are standard practice in many other dredging operations.

Based on our experiences in 2000 with small debris, it is also recommended that a screen of some sort be placed at the head of the pipe where the sand is pumped onto the beach or into the lake.

4. Direct Beach Placement of Sediment from Management Unit 1 and Annual Documentation Requested: If the material is found to be safe after retesting, the Town requests that the material from Management Unit 1, which includes the approach to as well as the entrance channel to Burns Waterway, be hydraulically piped right onto the beach at the far-east end of Ogden Dunes. A review of USACE reports indicates that this material is low in silty material and contaminants, and may be appropriate for direct beach placement every year of the permit in which dredging is completed.

The Town also recommends that hydraulic dredging be used rather than split-barge dredging. Hydraulic dredging would allow for more refined placement of the material where it is sorely needed. Both forms of dredging are being considered by USACE.

The Town would also like to have some sort of annual documentation indicating how many cubic yards of sediment were dredged and where it was placed.

5. Monitoring Plan Should be Required: Considering the length of this 5-year permit, The Town is also requesting that USACE provide some sort of Monitoring Plan to DNR before the project commences. Monitoring plans are also standard practice in other dredging operations. The Monitoring Plan would tell whether or not the project was completed during the desired time frame, whether or not the material caused any environmental problems or impacts on human health, and whether or not the material actually benefitted the beach. The last point is particularly important since research at Duke University has shown that the wrong kind of sand can erode 10 times faster than native sand. (http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4415)

The plan might also provide evaluation criteria for determining if the project should be temporarily suspended after a significant rain event. Rain events can cause temporary increases in E. coli readings on the beach, as the Town has discovered through its IDEM-funded Beach Monitoring Program conducted each summer. According to the Lake Michigan Shoreline Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for E. coli Bacteria, released by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2004:

“Recent research along the Lake Michigan shoreline has also found that E. coli can survive for extended periods of time in beach sands and algae. A study published in August 2003 found that E. coli survived for over six months in sun-dried algal mats stored at 4°C and readily grew upon rehydration (Whitman et al., 2003). Similar research indicates that E. coli can survive for extended periods in beach sands (Whitman et al., 2001). These findings suggest that algae and beach sands can be a secondary habitat for E. coli and could potentially influence water quality along the shoreline when swimmers or wave action might release E. coli into the water column.” (http://www.epa.gov/waters/tmdldocs/10883_lkmichtmdl%5B1%5D.pdf)

6. Long-Lasting Solutions Needed: The Town is also requesting that more long-lasting solutions be found to ameliorate sedimentation in the Burns Waterway as well as erosion problems on the Ogden Dunes beach.

Work is needed to stabilize the banks of the Little Calumet River West and East Branches -- and the Burns Waterway -- after the September rain event. And more effective buffer areas are needed to prevent excess sediment from entering the waterway.

While dredged sand from Burns Waterway will always be needed for beach nourishment, a more effective solution would be the installation of a bypass piping system that would continually move sand from the NIPSCO intake to the Ogden Dunes beach.

These positions were developed with the assistance of the Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board (ODEAB) and several residents. Susan MiHalo would like to thank Bob Cattani, Randi Light, Gerry Lehmann, Ursula Henkel and John Morris for their assistance. To prepare these statements, USACE reports were reviewed, including pages containing a chemical analysis of the material; plus Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) standards that provide guidance on evaluating whether or not the material is safe for placement on land. (http://www.in.gov/idem/4198.htm) Unfortunately, there are no standards for specifically assessing the quality of material for beach placement.

Additional comments may surface for the permit USACE needs to obtain from IDEM that will be public-noticed soon. The IDEM permit governs water quality issues, whereas the DNR permit focuses more on sediment impacts on property, safety and the environment. We will let you know as soon as water quality permit is posted on the IDEM website. No public hearing will need to be requested for that permit.

If you wish to submit comments on the DNR permit, comments should be addressed to:

Mr. Michael W. Neyer, P.E.
Director, Division of Water
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Room W264
402 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204

RE: Application #’s: FW-25073 and LM-163

Written and/or verbal comments may be provided on Tuesday evening. It is recommended that if you plan to speak you provide a written statement as well. Emailed comments may be sent to mshepherdson@dnr.IN.gov.

Public Hearing Scheduled in OD on Dredging Project

After a request by the Town of Ogden Dunes and a number of its residents, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has agreed to schedule a Public Hearing in Ogden Dunes regarding the dredging of the Burns Small Boat Harbor and placement of the material to nourish the Ogden Dunes beach. The Hearing will be held on Tuesday, January 13 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Firehouse.

Residents petitioned for the hearing for several reasons:
1. The permit to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) by DNR will be effective for five years. Once the permit is approved, it becomes very difficult to make changes on the project or challenge it if there are issues or concerns.

2. Some residents have expressed concern about the quality of the sand that was hydraulically dredged and placed on our beach in 2000. The sand was very silty and contained a great deal of shredded aluminum cans, glass and other garbage.

3. DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) did not involve the Town in any preliminary discussions about this project. Requesting the Hearing was our only way to allow public opinion to be expressed on the plan to place the dredged material on the Ogden Dunes beach.

4. Residents (and the National Park Service) have expressed concern that the material proposed to be dredged was tested in April 2008 prior to the September 2008 storm event that flooded Northwest Indiana and caused a disaster on the Ogden Dunes beach. Contaminants and other debris may be in the Burns Small Boat Harbor and channel that were not there previously.

Recognizing that erosion is again becoming problematic on the far-east end of Ogden Dunes, the Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board (ODEAB) is certainly not looking to deny acceptance of the material. Nevertheless, it behooves us to make sure residents will be getting material that is clean and suited for our beach. Research at Duke University in North Carolina has shown that material that is too small or the wrong shape can erode 10 times faster than native sand. Furthermore, we simply cannot take that attitude that "what we don't know won't harm us."










The project also needs careful review because there are actually several areas that will be dredged as noted on the photo above: the entrance channel, the channel and the small boat harbor of refuge. Each area has different types of materials and amounts of chemical parameters in them.

Another reason to express our opinion is our current experience with the NIPSCO Intake sand that is being placed in the littoral drift by the split barge this past two summers. While areas on the west end of the beach are still showing vegetated foredunes, the foredunes and accreted sand have virtually washed away on the east end of Town. We need to make sure that the dredge on this project will place the material where it will be most beneficial.

The ODEAB met Tuesday, January 6 to share their research and begin preparing positions for presentation at the Hearing. If you are interested in seeing the back up materials, such as the Contaminant Determination conducted by USACE, please visit http://www.ogdendunes.net/. Materials should be on there soon.

We hope that you will consider participating in the Hearing. If you wish to make a statement, bring two written copies: one to hand to DNR officials and the other to give to any press that might be there. If you are uncomfortable making a public statement, DNR will accept just written comments as well.

USACE will also need an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Permit before the project can proceed. We will let you know when that permit is posted on http://www.in.gov/idem/4400.htm#2008-568-26-JWR-A.

The earliest the dredging can begin is July 2009. However, it should be noted that USACE is still lining up federal funding for the project.