Indiana Leads The Nation. . .

[Palehorse]

. . .in the amount of toxic chemicals its factories release into the state's waterways.

11. NIPSCO's R.M. Schahfer Generating Station.
Location: 2723 E. 1500 N., Wheatfield, Ind., in Jasper County.
Waterway: Kankakee River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 28,692 pounds total, including manganese compounds (22,185 pounds), barium compounds (3,317 pounds) and copper compounds (1,243 pounds).
Details: According to the Times of Northwest Indiana, this $510 million coal-fired power plant can produce up to 1,780 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1.6 million homes.

10. Eli Lilly and Co. Clinton Laboratory.
Location: 10500 S. Ind. 63, Clinton, Ind., in Vermillion County.
Waterway: Wabash River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 30,285 pounds total, including nitrate compounds (29,046 pounds), chlorine (740 pounds) and ammonia (494 pounds).
Details: According to its website, Lilly's Clinton labs manufactures pharmaceutical products as well as several products for Elanco Animal Health.

9. Frito Lay.
Location: 323 S. County Road 300 W., Frankfort, Ind., in Clinton County.
Waterway: South Fork Wildcat Creek.
Chemicals released in 2011: 51,000 pounds of nitrate compounds.
Details: Frito Lay is one of the largest snack companies in the U.S. and a major employer in Frankfort.

8. ArcerlorMittal, Burns Harbor.
Location: 250 W. U.S. 12, Burns Harbor, Ind., in Porter County.
Waterway: Little Calumet River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 56,281 total pounds, including ammonia (16,810 pounds), nitrate compounds (12,771 pounds), manganese compounds (12,700 pounds) and zinc compounds (10,140 pounds).
Details: Burns Harbor is one of ArcelorMittal's largest U.S. facilities. It's also been a target of environmental groups for waste that the company's previous owners had piled along the shores of Lake Michigan, next to Indiana Dunes State Park. Last summer, state environmental regulators, ArcelorMittal, and two environmental groups reached a settlement that requires the steelmaker to remove or recycle the waste and to test the soil to see whether it has been contaminated with toxins.

7. United States Steel Corporation's Midwest Plant
Location: 6300 U.S. 12, Portage, Ind., in Porter County.
Waterway: Burns Ditch, a manmade ditch draining into Lake Michigan.
Chemicals released in 2011: 73,733 total pounds, including nitrate compounds (71,000 pounds) and zinc compounds (2,500 pounds).
Details: According to its website, the Midwest Plant is a steel finishing facility that operates as part of U.S. Steel's Gary Works, its sister plant 10 miles to the west. It produces materials for the automotive, construction, container and electrical markets.

6. Cargill Texturizing Solutions
Location: 1100 Indianapolis Blvd., Hammond, Ind., in Lake County.
Waterway: Lake Michigan.
Chemicals released in 2011: 79,109 pounds of nitrate compounds.
Details: According to the company, the Hammond plant is the largest and most complex plant in its local texturizing region. The company bills itself as one of the world's leading suppliers of texturizers and emulsifiers to the global food and beverage industry, as well as the pharmaceutical and cosmetics markets.

5. ArcerlorMittal, Indiana Harbor facilities.
Location: 3001 Dickey Road and 3210 Watling St., East Chicago, Ind., in Lake County.
Waterway: Indiana Harbor Ship Canal on Lake Michigan.
Chemicals released in 2011: 152,546 total pounds. The chemicals include nitrate compounds (78,400 pounds), diethanolamine (59,000 pounds), zinc compounds (6,300 pounds), ammonia (5,500 pounds), cyanide compounds (1,980) and lead compounds (269 pounds).
Details: According to its website, this plant produces products mainly used in automotive, cold-finished and fastener applications.

4. Evonik Degussa Corp.'s Tippecanoe Laboratories.
Location: 1650 Lilly Road, Lafayette, Ind., in Tippecanoe County.
Waterway: Wabash River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 210,201 total pounds, including 206,776 pounds of nitrate compounds and 3,413 pounds of ammonia.
Note: This former Eli Lilly penicillin plant was taken over in 2010 by German company Evonik. According to its website, the plant produces active ingredients and other substances for cancer drugs, such as Gemzar, and veterinary drugs such as Tylosin.

3. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) Innovative Plastics.
Location: 1 Lexan Lane, Mount Vernon, Ind., in Posey County.
Waterway: Ohio River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 363,039 total pounds, including nitrate compounds (200,500 pounds), sodium nitrite (130,500 pounds) and ethylene glycol (17,000 pounds).
Details: According to a settlement detailing an air-pollution fine issued by the EPA, SABIC Innovative Plastics is among the world's largest producers of high-performance polymers used by manufacturers of electronics, office equipment, computers and automotive products. The company was formed in 2007 when General Electric sold GE Plastics to Saudi Arabia's largest public company, SABIC, for $11 billion.

2. Facility: United States Steel Corp.'s Gary Works.
Location: 1 N. Broadway, Gary, Ind., in Lake County.
Waterway: Grand Calumet River.
Chemicals released in 2011: 1.83 million pounds, including 1.8 million pounds of nitrate compounds, 11,100 pounds of manganese compounds and 6,200 pounds of zinc compounds.
Details: U.S. Steel's largest manufacturing plant is situated on the south shore of Lake Michigan. The plant dumps its effluence into the perpetually polluted Grand Calumet River.

1. Facility: AK Steel Corp.'s Rockport Works.
Location: 6500 N. U.S. 231, Rockport, Ind., Spencer County.
Waterway: Ohio River.
Chemicals released in 2011: Nitrate compounds (18.35 million pounds), sodium nitrate (616,380 pounds), ammonia (3,891 pounds) and chromium (1,462 pounds).
Details: This steel mill releases so many nitrate compounds into the Ohio River, it skewed Indiana's overall water-pollution numbers to make Indiana the worst surface-water polluting state in the U.S. Last year, Environment America released a report calling attention to Indiana's high ranking. The report sampled 2010 data, which showed the plant released even more toxins that year.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BG&Dato=20130801&Kategori=NEWS21&Lopenr=308010032&Ref=PH&nocache=1

[Palehorse]

And we drink that water!

[Sandy Eggo]

That explains a lot 

[Henry Hawk]

Whose "we"......I don't drink that stuff

[Palehorse]

Whose "we"......I don't drink that stuff

You don't? Do you drink bottled water? If so, it is bottled locally. From local sources.

Same holds true if you have a water cooler.

You bathe in it every day. (Unless you don't bathe)

You have a hose at home. Ever drink out of that?

I'm calling bullshit.

Moreover, you are breathing that shit too. These same businesses also emit particulate matter into the air you breath.

[Palehorse]

And every time those of us concerned about this planet and environment point out how pollution is negatively impacting our planet and environment, we always see/hear the finger being pointed at China, and other Asian / European countries as being the big hitters.

Well, booh-yah. It's right here, in your own state, and the worst in the NATION! 

[me]

Most people don't realize the bottled water is just ran through a filter to get a few more impurities and taste out and that it comes out of the same water source their tap water comes out of.  Now you can buy spring water which doesn't but what is in the spring they're getting it out of?

You don't? Do you drink bottled water? If so, it is bottled locally. From local sources.

Same holds true if you have a water cooler.

You bathe in it every day. (Unless you don't bathe)

You have a hose at home. Ever drink out of that?

I'm calling bullshit.

Moreover, you are breathing that shit too. These same businesses also emit particulate matter into the air you breath.

[Henry Hawk]

You don't? Do you drink bottled water? If so, it is bottled locally. From local sources.

Same holds true if you have a water cooler.

You bathe in it every day. (Unless you don't bathe)

You have a hose at home. Ever drink out of that?

I'm calling bullshit.

Moreover, you are breathing that shit too. These same businesses also emit particulate matter into the air you breath.

All I am saying is I don't drink my water.  Yes, I bathe in it.  You get fired up way to easy.

[Mr442]

Number 10 is my former employer.  Yes a lot of stuff is released, but it is within amounts allowed by IDEM.  They have a large system to control the release rate into the Wabash through numerous small ports, to eliminate any large concentrations.  The plant also has a large, state of the art containment system in the event of a spill.  Nothing can get to the river unless it is suppose to go there.  Also, the plant has been entirely animal health products for the last 10 years or so.

Terre Haute, which is downstream, does get most of it's drinking water from the Wabash.  Lilly or not, I still wouldn't want to drink river water.  But then again, all water for human consumption via a utility has to be filtered and treated, to meet specifications set forth by the state.

[The Troll]

  Just forget the water problem, Mike Pense has your back.        

[Mr442]

I should have added....

What Lilly releases into the river is clear water, yes it contains higher concentrations of the above items, but not in large amounts considering how much water is released.  Their biggest issue with the water that is released is the lack of oxygen in that water.  When it was released via a ditch to the river, we would sometimes kill fish that had swam back into the ditch.  With the new system that releases water in multiple points under water, fish kills are a thing of the past.  The amount of water that is used at that place is unreal, that is why it is built over one of the largest aquifers in the state.

[Henry Hawk]

Thanks for sharing that 442....very interesting. 

[Palehorse]

The issue is not within a single release, or a series of releases over an amount of time, but rather within the cumulative amounts those releases place into the sediment; which places them into the food chain. Bottom feeders and dwellers (baitfish) are consumed by the bigger fish, which increasingly places the contamination higher into the food chain.

As these fish consume the contaminates, they accumulate within their body; and when we eat them it accumulates within us.

Moreover, water reclamation processes normally do not address some of these contaminates, which allows them to enter the food chain via the water we drink and bathe in; not to mention water our gardens with.

Just because these releases don't instantly kill the aquatic life it doesn't remove the long term danger by any means.

[libby]

And every time those of us concerned about this planet and environment point out how pollution is negatively impacting our planet and environment, we always see/hear the finger being pointed at China, and other Asian / European countries as being the big hitters.

Well, booh-yah. It's right here, in your own state, and the worst in the NATION! 

The issue is not within a single release, or a series of releases over an amount of time, but rather within the cumulative amounts those releases place into the sediment; which places them into the food chain. Bottom feeders and dwellers (baitfish) are consumed by the bigger fish, which increasingly places the contamination higher into the food chain.

As these fish consume the contaminates, they accumulate within their body; and when we eat them it accumulates within us.

Moreover, water reclamation processes normally do not address some of these contaminates, which allows them to enter the food chain via the water we drink and bathe in; not to mention water our gardens with.

Just because these releases don't instantly kill the aquatic life it doesn't remove the long term danger by any means.

I started to write something, but Palehorse says it all.  The effect is cumulative, world-wide. Look at the big picture. 

[Henry Hawk]

I understand the concern.  I think we live in a time where our water simply MUST be treated before we drink.  Not just Indiana, but everywhere. 
Is it mans fault?  Sure! 
What could we have done differently?  I think we went through the natural process of things.  We live and we learn.  It is easy to say what we SHOULD have done differently.
 
The bottom line is that we correct what we can now.  It is just wise NOT to drink your own tap water without some sort of filtering system.  I have filters BEFORE and AFTER my water softener.  I have a filter on my kitchen tap.  I still do not drink the water.  I buy water for drinking purposes.  I use my water for cooking and cleaning.  I think that is just the way MOST Americans have adapted.

According to Purdue studies the fish consumption for fish caught in Madison County poses NO risk, with the exception of Carp (who the hell want's to eat a carp) and then they recommend only (1) One 8oz meal a week.

http://fn.cfs.purdue.edu/prodaai/main.php