Environmental organizations ask EPA to fix Indiana water pollution program

The Hoosier Environmental Council, the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and the Environmental Law & Policy Center submitted a petition Thursday, asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help fix problems in the Indiana water pollution control program.

The petition states that Indiana’s program, which is administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, don’t protect the state’s water.
The petition claims that Indiana hasn’t adopted the Clean Water Act’s “antidegradation” rules, which prevent new sources of pollution from harming Indiana’s rivers, lakes and streams. Indiana’s lack of antidegradation laws was made public in 2007 when the BP Corporation applied for a permit to pollute Lake Michigan.

IDEM’s new antidegradation rules allow companies to often avoid public review of their proposed new or expanded sources of pollution.

The submitted petition asked the EPA to remove the state’s abilities to implement the Act if they don’t improve the water program to coincide with the provisions of the Clean Water Act.