MICHIGAN CITY — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has found several violations, including evidence of unreported sewage bypasses and serious communications problems, at the Sanitary District.
After an eight-day inspection between May 13 and June 18, an IDEM inspector issued a preliminary report of findings Tuesday. Through interviews with district employees and looking at district records, the inspector found three instances of partially treated sewage being discharged before going through the full-treatment process.
According to IDEM’s website, bypasses must be reported within 24 hours.
Those bypasses, the most recent occurring on March 14, were not reported to IDEM as required by the district’s environmental permit.
Sanitary District General Manager Al Walus would not comment on the specific findings of the IDEM report, but said the district would respond to the finding in “due time.” He would not comment on whether the district would face fines stemming from IDEM’s findings. He said some of IDEM’s findings have been addressed.
In addition to other reporting violations, including not properly reporting sewage backups in basements following a storm in May, IDEM notes communication within the district is lacking.
“There appears to be a severe lack of coordination and communication between management and operators and maintenance personnel,” the report says.
The IDEM report comes just weeks after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency executed a search warrant at the Sanitary District. The EPA was looking for evidence of environmental crimes. Although neither the EPA nor the U.S. Attorney’s office have agreed to discuss the investigation, the probe may relate to unreported sewage overflows.
Just days after the search warrant was executed, the district official responsible for following the reporting guidelines of the Sanitary District’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, Dan Olson, abruptly retired. Another employee is replacing Olson on an interim basis while a permanent replacement is found.
Previously, Michael Hoffman, Sanitary District collection superintendent, said if the district’s water treatment plant is operating at capacity, and a large basin meant to store excess water is full, water in the basin is given a basic treatment to kill bacteria before being discharged.
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