The Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the EPA sought comments this spring on the dredging of the Indiana Harbor Shipping Canal (IHSC). The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has overseen the removal of more than 1 million cubic yards of sediment as part of the IHSC dredging project that started in 2012.

Dr. Kerri Hornbuckle and Dr. Andres Martinez commented on the request for approval of PCB alternative disposals. The specific approval was to move 60,000 cubic yards of sediment in the canal that contains a PCB concentration greater than 50 parts per million to a confined disposal facility. Dr. Hornbuckle and Dr. Martinez had concerns about the additional release of PCBs from contaminated sediments and requested studies of the emissions of airborne PCBs from the confined disposal facility.

The picture above is courtesy of the Times of Northwest Indiana.