Background of Air Monitoring Program

The East Chicago Waterway Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District (Corps), have entered into a project cooperation agreement to dredge over 4.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the Indiana Harbor and Canal. The former Energy Cooperative, Inc. (ECI) site in East Chicago, Indiana, is the site proposed for the construction of a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) for containing the contaminated sediments. It is anticipated that dredging and disposal activities at the CDF could begin as early as 2010. In advance of these dredging activities the Corps has been obtaining information on ambient air quality at the CDF property, as well as at the East Chicago Central High School.

Purpose of Air Monitoring Program

The goal of the air monitoring program is to collect ambient air samples from CDF site and from the East Chicago Central High School. The main objectives for this project are:

• To obtain quantitative data on the occurrence of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB), particulate matter, metals, dioxins, and furans, in air samples at the CDF site.
• To establish a long-term air quality database.
• To monitor and evaluate trends in ambient air quality at the CDF and loacl high school.
• To respond to public inquiries about ambient air quality in the vicinity of the proposed CDF.
• To obtain meteorological data during air monitoring, so that an assessment of the impact of weather conditions on air quality measurements can be made.
• To obtain data on seasonal variations in air quality in and around the CDF site.

Location Map of Air Monitoring Stations

USACE Reports on Air Monitoring During Construction:

• 2004 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2005 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2006 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2007 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2008 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2009 Ambient Air Monitoring Report
• 2010 Ambient Air Monitoring Report

Air Monitoring Information:

• Quarterly Analytical Data
• Discription of Chemical Compounds

Links to Other Air Monitoring Sites:

• USEPA Air Toxics Website (ATW)
• USEPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards