The Gary Advocates for Responsible Development activist group has secured the help of a new ally in its ongoing push to block a planned waste treatment facility near the Little Calumet River.
Lawyers for the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), refiled a complaint on Monday with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Foreign Civil Rights Compliance on behalf of GARD. The complaint alleges that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by renewing Maya Energy's permit to build and operate its facility at the planned site, which is near the predominantly black neighborhood of Glen Park and opposite. the street from Steel City Academy Character School. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in programs that receive federal funds.
The planned Maya facility, which is still not operational more than half a decade after it was first licensed to operate, will convert waste into combustible fuel for use in power generation. In April 2022, after IDEM renewed Maya's permit for the facility, which is not yet operational, the City of Gary and GARD Chairwoman Dorreen Carey filed petitions with the Indiana Office of Environmental Arbitration (OEA) seeking to block the renewal. On March 15, Carey's complaint was dismissed by the OEA with 60 days to resubmit. With the help of ELPC, GARD set the submission deadline.
GARD's renewed complaint asks the EPA to order IDEM to revoke the permit and evaluate whether the Maya plant should be located in a predominantly black community that is “already burdened with sources of air pollution and plagued by significant disparities in health”.
“Gary and the surrounding communities of North Lake County have served as a 'sacrifice zone' and dumping ground for far too long,” GARD member Kimmy Gordon said in a statement released jointly with the ELPC. “We are a largely minority community and one of the most polluted areas in the country. We are simply asking IDEM to do its job as required by law and analyze the cumulative impact new facilities will have on pollution levels in our community before issuing permits. If this analysis shows that a company's facilities will significantly increase existing pollution levels, it should be rejected.”
On March 11 letter to IDEM's Office of Air Quality Permit Branch Chief, EPA Air and Radiation Division Director John Mooney wrote that the location of the proposed Maya facility “raises potential environmental justice concerns.” Mooney recommended that IDEM conduct additional studies on the potential impact of the Mayan facility, assessing the impact of the trucks that would transport waste to and from the facility on the surrounding community.
The complaint filed by the city of Gary against Maya was also dismissed by the OEA, prompting the Gary company's counsel to file an appeal in the civil division of Lake County Superior Court.
