Activists raise concerns with NIPSCO Jasper County water permit application
Activists and residents are raising significant environmental and public health concerns over a NIPSCO permit application in Jasper County, Indiana. The permit would allow mixing wastewater from a coal plant, a new gas plant, and an Amazon data center before discharging it into the Kankakee River. Opponents worry about contamination from heavy metals and the permit's potential impact on the waterway and local communities.
A permit application filed by NIPSCO with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Office of Water Quality has sparked significant environmental and public health concerns among Jasper County residents and advocacy groups. The permit seeks approval to mix wastewater, including coal ash water, from NIPSCO’s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station, a new gas plant, and Amazon’s under-construction data center, into a single settling basin before discharge into the Kankakee River.
Barb Deardorff, a Kankakee Township resident, and Ben Inskeep, program director for the Citizens Action Coalition, voiced worries about potential contamination from heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, and lead, threatening public health, property values, and endangered species in the Kankakee River. Critics also highlight the absence of a dedicated wastewater treatment plant for the data center and the potential difficulty in tracing pollutants once waste streams are mixed. Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, called the permit a "mess of projects" and expressed dismay over the continued operation of two broken coal units at the Schahfer plant.
IDEM has scheduled a virtual permit hearing for the draft permit on October 7, with responses due by October 22. Opponents, including Just Transition Northwest Indiana, are urging community members to participate, arguing that NIPSCO and "Big Tech" are exploiting Jasper County residents' health and safety for profit. NIPSCO reportedly violated its current discharge permit five times since October 2020.