Articles

Insurer has no duty for contamination at Gary airport

The city of Gary’s lawsuit seeking payment for cleaning up contaminated property near the Gary/Chicago International Airport has stalled after the Indiana Court of Appeals found the business owner’s insurer had no duty to indemnify.

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Group seeks 2nd hearing on tainted East Chicago site’s cleanup

East Chicago community group is asking for a second public hearing on the proposed cleanup of the site of a public housing complex that was evacuated and demolished because of industrial contamination. The East Chicago Calumet Coalition Community Advisory Group says many residents didn’t get to speak at a Nov. 29 hearing about a $26.5 million project to remove tainted soil from the site of the West Calumet Housing Complex.

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Hoosier Environmental Council attorney discusses CAFOs, industrial farming at McKinney

Murmurs of disgust were sprinkled throughout a packed lecture hall at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law as law students looked at pictures of waste pits overflowing with animal poop last week. Their lecturer, Kim Ferraro of the Hoosier Environmental Council, spared no sensitive stomachs as she explained the process of industrial farming and the disposal of the billions of pounds of animal waste that ensue.

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Ohio River agency holds off vote on dropping pollution rules

A commission that watches over the Ohio River’s health has put off a vote on whether to move away from its role of setting pollution standards for the river. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission decided against holding a vote Thursday on a change that would leave the responsibility of setting water quality standards up to the six individual states along the river.

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Turning brownfields into green land neither cheap nor easy

A 20-year-old state environmental law, oblique court decisions and a provision inserted seven years ago into the statute of limitations are coming together in a case from Elkhart that many environmental lawyers are hoping will finally settle lingering debates over when suits recouping cleanup costs may be filed.

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Proposal to sunset Ohio River pollution standards yields flood of concern

Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission members, including three from Indiana, are preparing to vote on a proposal that would sunset the organization’s pollution control standards. That proposal has yielded thousands of pages of public comments from proponents who say ORSANCO’s standards are redundant and, more significantly, from opponents who fear water quality in Indiana would suffer.

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Jury awards $289M to man who blames Roundup for cancer

A San Francisco jury’s $289 million award to a former school groundskeeper who said Monsanto’s Roundup left him dying of cancer will bolster thousands of pending cases and open the door for countless people who blame their suffering on the weed killer, the man’s lawyers said.

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Pence family gas stations left costly environmental legacy

The collapse of an oil company linked to the Pence family in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 of the company’s contaminated sites, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.

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Demolition begins at contaminated E. Chicago housing complex

Demolition has begun at a northwest Indiana public housing complex contaminated with arsenic and lead. Demolition of East Chicago's West Calumet Housing Complex will remove all buildings, foundations, streets and sidewalks, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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Delaware County officials end fight against 10,000-hog farm

Officials in Delaware County are dropping their fight against a proposed 10,000-hog farm after threats of legal action since a state agency has approved the project. County commissioners had put a hold on building permits for the farm in the northern part of the county.

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