The East Chicago Waterway Management District and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, will give an update on the Indiana Harbor and Canal Dredging and Disposal project at the Citizens’ Advisory for the Remediation of the Environment (C.A.R.E.) committee meeting to be held at the Riley Social Center, 1005 E. Chicago Avenue, in East Chicago, Indiana on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001, from 6 to 7:50 p.m. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, will also be on hand to discuss the completed and on-going risk assessment work being done for the project. All interested parties are invited to attend. Written questions will be accepted at the meeting and responded to by the appropriate project team member. Project status meetings are held quarterly in order to provide an on-going dialogue with the public about the project.

Additional project information about the Indiana Harbor and Canal Dredging and Disposal project is accessible from the Corps website at www.lrc.usace.army.mil. This project web page is part of an effort to keep the public informed about status of the project, which was approved for construction in 1999. Initial activities will include constructing a facility to contain the contaminated sediment at the former ECI site, located at 3500 Indianapolis Blvd., on the Lake George branch of the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal. Dredging is planned to start in 2005.

The first item to be constructed at the site is a below-ground cutoff wall or barrier to control groundwater flow, and its construction is expected to start in Spring 2002. The cutoff wall will serve to contain the contaminated sediment dredged from the harbor and canal, and also contaminants that currently exist at the site in the soil and groundwater. At the request of the community the Corps is also initiating air monitoring at the former ECI site in conjunction with the dredging and disposal project. To measure air conditions prior to construction and dredge material placement, four air-monitoring stations are being installed at the site and one air monitoring station is being installed at the East Chicago Central High School located approximately one-half mile from the site. The first air monitoring station at the site has been installed and sampling began this week.

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