Press Releases
Press Release Index
6/2/25: Questions about the Safety of Ongoing Repairs to NIPSCO’s Seawall Go Unanswered
5/9/25: BP Whiting Permit Allows for Mercury, PFAs Pollution in Lake Michigan
4/30/25: JTNWI In Coalition Releases Potential Pollution Pass Map to Clean Air Act
4/13/25: JTNWI Opposes Governor Braun’s New Executive Orders Backtracking Climate Progress
4/7/25 New Analysis Shows Extensive Number of Facilities Across the U.S. That Could Get a Trump EPA Pollution Pass
3/14/25: JTNWI Statement on Health and Environmental Triple Threat: Proposed EPA Regulations, Governor Braun’s Executive Orders, and NEPA Rule Executive Order
2/10/25: JTNWI Statement on LaPorte County and NIPSCO Electric Rate Case Settlement Agreement to Evaluate Converting the Michigan City Coal Plant
11/20/24: JTNWI Statement on DOE MachH2 Awards
6/2/25 Release
Questions about the Safety of Ongoing Repairs to NIPSCO’s Seawall Go Unanswered
NiSource, IDEM, and EPA fail to respond to questions about repairs to the seawall in Michigan City, holding back millions of tons of toxic coal ash
Michigan City, IN – On May 2, Just Transition Northwest Indiana (JTNWI) and Lisa Evans, senior counsel for Earthjustice, sent a time-sensitive request to NiSource, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and Region 5 EPA regarding the ongoing repairs of the Trail Creek seawall at the Michigan City Generating Station, recently downgraded in NIPSCO’s own report. This work, done with seemingly no public notice, raises many concerns and questions for the Michigan City area community. The seawall is the only barrier on the Lake Michigan shoreline holding back an estimated two million tons of fill containing toxic coal ash from the drinking water supply for 10 million people and recreational lake activity.
JTNWI and Earthjustice are gravely concerned about the potential release of toxic coal ash and demand answers.
The replacement of the steel piling wall along Trail Creek may cause the release of coal ash into the creek, as the area behind the piling wall contains a substantial amount of coal ash fill. This fill is contaminating onsite groundwater that flows into the creek and Lake Michigan. If a release occurs, there could be significant damage to the aquatic life, water quality, and fish regularly consumed by residents of Michigan City.
Best practices require NIPSCO to immediately test the water quality and sediments of Trail Creek for the presence of coal ash and coal ash contaminants. This should continue at weekly or monthly intervals throughout the construction project and for at least one month following the completion of the project. Testing results should be promptly shared with the public, preferably on a publicly accessible website.
If testing results indicate that hazardous contaminants are exceeding safe levels in the water or sediment, NIPSCO should immediately notify EPA Region 5, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Michigan City Council, and the National Response Center and post such information on a publicly accessible website, including warnings to those fishing in Trail Creek.
In reaction to the non-response to this urgent and pressing matter, JTNWI and Earthjustice state:
“As a Michigan City resident and avid Lake Michigan and Trail Creek recreator, the coal ash crisis at Michigan City Generating Station is of constant concern to me, especially in this era of environmental deregulation. It is unacceptable that we have no idea if any of these best practices were followed, if crucial follow-up testing of the impacted waterway has been scheduled, and if those results will be public. We deserve to know what’s happening there. We want answers.” - Ashley Williams, Executive Director, JTNWI
"NIPSCO should remove its toxic coal ash from Trail Creek and Lake Michigan instead of providing a temporary fix. To make matters worse, this is being done in the dark, without providing critical information to the community. Our regulatory agencies should not be ghosting the people they were created to protect.” - Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Earthjustice
5/9/25 Release
BP Whiting Permit Allows for Mercury, PFAs Pollution in Lake Michigan
Whiting, IN – A proposed new water pollution control permit for the BP Whiting oil refinery allows the 136-year-old industrial facility to continue dumping into Lake Michigan unhealthy levels of pollution, including mercury, which can cause brain damage, and “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, according to permit comments filed by the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) and Environmental Integrity Project (EIP).
The environmental groups and several local community groups are demanding the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) revise the state’s draft permit for the plant to include stronger pollution limits for mercury and PFAS, as well as dangerous toxins like arsenic, benzene, and lead, which are also being released into a waterway that is a source of drinking water and recreation for millions of people in the Chicago area.
“This permit demonstrates BP’s and the state of Indiana’s disregard for the health of the people of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area,” said Kerri Gefeke, Associate Attorney at ELPC. “It’s particularly egregious for the state to allow BP to discharge elevated levels of mercury, unknown amounts of ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS, and numerous other chemicals into Lake Michigan mere feet from the beaches where people swim and fish, and a short distance from where the City of Hammond withdraws its drinking water.”
“The BP Whiting refinery discharges dangerous pollutants into Lake Michigan, which millions of Americans rely on for drinking water, swimming, fishing, and even surfing,” said Meg Parish, Senior Attorney at Environmental Integrity Project. “The state of Indiana should be doing everything it can to limit BP Whiting’s pollution and protect Lake Michigan. Instead, they’re giving BP a nearly free pass on dangerous chemicals like mercury, PFAS, and benzene.”
For a copy of the organizations’ comments and analysis to the draft BP Whiting permit, click here.
Refineries like BP Whiting discharge a host of dangerous pollutants, including mercury, PFAS, benzene, arsenic, and lead, but their federal limits haven’t been updated since the 1980s, leaving it up to states to protect our waters.
Mercury is a particular problem at BP Whiting. Mercury is a neurotoxin that is harmful to people of all ages, can cause brain damage to infants, and poisons fish. Even though Lake Michigan already has too much mercury, the draft permit under review allows BP to keep dumping more mercury than is safe for that Great Lake, ignoring the technologies available to help the refinery meet those limits.
PFAs are dangerous to people in very small “parts per trillion” amounts and don’t break down easily in the environment. Refineries frequently discharge PFAs because the firefighting foam refineries used for training and emergencies since the 1980s contains PFAs. Even after refineries stop using foam with this chemical, they can still discharge PFAs due to groundwater contamination. Refineries around the country now have PFAs limits and monitoring requirements to protect drinking water supplies. But Indiana regulators issuing the proposed new permit for BP Whiting never addressed whether the refinery is discharging PFAs, and the new permit does not include any limits or monitoring to protect communities that use Lake Michigan for their drinking water.
Community and state groups that signed onto the comments include University of Chicago’s Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, BP & Whiting Watch, Conservation Law Center, Environmental Advocacy Center, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, the Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) Indiana Division and IWLA Porter County Chapter, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, National Parks Conservation Association, Northern Lake County Environmental Partnership, Save the Dunes, the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter, Southeast Environmental Task Force, and the Surfrider Foundation.
Lisa Vallee, Organizing Director at Just Transition Northwest Indiana and a Whiting resident, said:
“I am dumbfounded that a decades-old permit up for renewal by one of the worst global polluters contains more lax regulations, neglects to address more than 20 toxic chemicals and critical concerns about forever chemicals, and shows no concern for the millions of people who rely on this water and the delicate, unique Great Lakes ecosystem we have been gifted with. After a period where BP has consistently leaked contaminants into our communities and has been issued the largest ever fine for knowingly underreporting toxic benzene releases for decades, IDEM is telling us we have nothing to worry about. We are not fools. We know because we live here; every day, we smell it, see it, and become ill. We will never stop fighting for the clean water, air, and land we deserve.”
Carolyn McCrady, a member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said:
“IDEM officials barely scratched the surface of BPs long and intransigent history of dumping tons of toxic waste into the waters of Lake Michigan. They ignored the growing presence of mercury as well as any substantive response to BP’s record of terrifying outages and spills into the air and the water. BP is one of the worst polluters on the lakefront and yet they continue to get a pass from IDEM on every turn. They work for the people, not industry. IDEM should get busy and do a real analysis instead of putting lipstick on a pig.”
Sarah Damron, Surfrider Foundation’s Great Lakes Senior Regional Manager, said:
“For too long, surfers at the south end of Lake Michigan have suffered rashes, hives, and infections after simply enjoying the water. The Surfrider Foundation is fighting to ensure that industrial discharges from BP Whiting and neighboring industry don’t pollute vital freshwater meant to support recreation, fishing, and clean drinking water. Local communities deserve clean water and safe beaches. We look forward to the day when everyone can enjoy these waters without risking their health.”
4/30/25 Release
JTNWI In Coalition Releases Potential Pollution Pass Map to Clean Air Act
New Map Shows Hundreds of Facilities Across the U.S. That Might Get a Pollution Pass from Trump Administration
(Washington, D.C. – April 30, 2025) A coalition of health, community, and environmental groups yesterday released a new map showing more than 500 facilities that emit toxic or hazardous air pollution, and that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin invited to apply for Presidential exemptions from air pollution limits. (If you prefer to see the data in list form, it’s available here, including the data sources that were used in developing the map and underlying analysis.)
On March 24th, Administrator Zeldin launched a website inviting the 500-plus industrial sources to seek two-year extensions to their deadlines to comply with critical air toxics standards. The website encouraged the “regulated community” to apply for special Presidential exemptions from standards that protect people from toxic and hazardous air pollution and included step-by-step instructions on how to request one. On April 8th, President Trump issued a proclamation that stated he would exempt 68 coal-fired power plants from complying with one of the nine standards, the Mercury and Air Toxics update rule, with little public explanation.
The map includes industrial sources – such as coal-fired power plants, chemical manufacturers, sterilizers, and other toxic-emitting facilities – covered by nine different air toxics standards that protect people from pollution that can cause brain damage in young children, cancer, and severe heart and lung disease. It includes publicly reported information about which facilities, or their representatives, have requested or been granted potential exemptions and will be updated as more information becomes available. People using the map can input their home address to see which facilities are near them. They can also filter by facility type, Congressional District, or county, see which facilities are located near public schools, and click on links to contact EPA.
The map was produced by Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Integrity Project and released along with allies at Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, California Communities Against Toxics, Clean Air Council, Clean Air Laredo Coalition, Concerned Citizens of St. John, Earthjustice, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, Moms Clean Air Force, Rise St. James, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services.
The groups also recently released a list of the facilities that could potentially be exempted from pollution limits and health protections. You can read more about that and see reaction from the groups here. They have since updated that list with additional information on facilities or their representatives that have requested or received potential exemptions, and have created the map to make it easier for people to see the scope of the problem and get more information.
News reports have revealed that the American Chemistry Council and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers submitted a request for a blanket two-year compliance exemption for more than 200 chemical manufacturing facilities from EPA’s HON Rule, which limits emissions of toxic pollutants, including ethylene oxide and chloroprene and requires fenceline monitoring for six priority chemicals of concern. However EPA has not made any other information public about what facilities have requested an exemption.
EDF filed a FOIA request for all records related to the website, and then filed a lawsuit on Friday after EPA failed to produce those records or otherwise respond to the FOIA request by the legal deadline.
4/13/25 Release
JTNWI Opposes Governor Braun’s New Executive Orders Backtracking Climate Progress
Last week, Governor Braun issued a trio of harmful executive orders. Communities in Northwest Indiana will experience the impacts of these orders firsthand, from health issues, toxic air and water emissions to compounding waste issues, and more extreme weather and lake events. The governor signed the following:
EO 25-50 “Supporting Life Extension for Coal Energy Generation and Assessing Natural Gas Supplies,” which establishes evaluations of remaining coal plants, propping them up to extend their lives to meet the demand of AI data centers.
EO 25-49 “Encouraging Practical Approaches to Climate and Energy Solutions by Rejecting Social Cost of GHG and Climate Action Plans,” which prevents state agencies from factoring in the “social costs” of greenhouse gas emissions that would have been calculated to monetize the amounts of health and economic damages.
EO 25-48 “Creating Economic Opportunity and Securing Indiana’s Energy Future Through Advanced Nuclear Development,” which establishes the Nuclear Indiana Coalition to promote and attract the nuclear industry to the state.
“EO 25-50 will set the stage for a drastic increase in pollution that our communities and health systems cannot ignore. Indiana leads the nation in toxic coal ash sites. This EO could worsen issues at a key juncture in implementing new coal ash rules intended to clean up this statewide mess.”
“These orders have the potential to rapidly reverse any hard-won gains, all to service AI data centers that numerous NWI county communities have advocated to reject. EO 25-49 will hamstring state agencies from applying data towards actual prevention or policy.
“EO 25-48 will speed up and entice unproven and experimental technology of small modular nuclear reactors to Indiana. This further cements the abysmal decision by state legislators to roll out the red carpet to corporations at the expense of ratepayers, a process well underway with the advancement of House Bill 1007 and Senate Bills 423 and 425 and passage of Senate Enrolled Act 424. These executive orders, combined with legislative activities at the statehouse, will create decades more of damage to Hoosier health, the economy, and the environment, with false solutions we cannot afford. At the same time, monopoly utility companies and industry pocketbooks are enriched yet again.”
4/7/25 Release
New Analysis Shows Extensive Number of Facilities Across the U.S. That Could Get a Trump EPA Pollution Pass
Administrator Lee Zeldin Invited Facilities to Seek Exemptions from Vital Toxic Pollution Limits
(Washington, D.C. – April 7, 2025) Today, a coalition of health, community, and environmental groups released new analysis documenting the extensive number of high-polluting industrial facilities that Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has invited to seek exemptions from national limits on hazardous air pollution. These industrial sources emit toxic pollution such as mercury, arsenic, chloroprene, ethylene oxide, and many other contaminants associated with serious adverse health effects, including cancer.
On March 24th, Administrator Zeldin launched a website offering to help industrial sources emit hazardous air pollution instead of complying with existing clean air standards. The website identifies nine different standards that protect people from toxic and hazardous air pollution and encourages the “regulated community” to apply for special Presidential exemptions from these safeguards. The site has step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the exemptions and a deadline of March 31st.
Today’s analysis identifies more than 500 facilities in 45 states across the U.S., plus Puerto Rico, that emit toxic and hazardous air pollution and that Administrator Zeldin invited to apply for pollution exemptions. The greatest number of facilities are large petrochemical manufacturing plants (218 facilities) and coal-fired power plants (151 facilities).
The states with the most sources are Texas (98 facilities), Louisiana (54 facilities), and Ohio (27 facilities). The full analysis includes more detailed information, including the Congressional districts where these facilities are located and their ownership.
Some pollution sources have already submitted requests seeking broad-based exemptions from these vital safeguards. Lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) – trade associations for some of the largest industrial polluters in the U.S. – asked Administrator Zeldin to provide a two-year compliance exemption for “all sources” required to meet national limits on hazardous pollution. (EDF has just released a new map that takes a closer look at the serious health risks from petrochemical pollution.) And operators of the coal-fired Colstrip power plant in Montana are seeking a two-year exemption from compliance with an update to EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which limits air pollution that causes brain damage in developing children.
EPA has not made the requests for exemptions public, so it is unknown how many more facilities have applied. Several groups that released today’s analysis have also filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for all records related to the website, including which entities are requesting the exemptions and any records related to Administrator Zeldin’s reckless invitation to industrial emitters of toxic pollution.
Because of its importance to public health and safety, the Clean Air Act has strong requirements for public participation and transparency. EPA’s unprecedented sweeping solicitation of exemptions from vital national pollution standards would evade these requirements. It seeks no information or public comment from people exposed to toxic air pollution every day around the facilities EPA has invited to seek exemptions, and it appears to include no consideration of public health or environmental impacts at all.
QUOTES
“This new analysis shows that Administrator Zeldin’s reckless and dangerous invitation for industrial sources to evade compliance with national pollution limits on the most toxic contaminants puts millions of Americans in harm’s way. Communities across America are at risk, and people now have to worry more about their children getting sick from breathing toxic air pollution and their family members getting cancer. We call on EPA Administrator Zeldin to immediately withdraw this dangerous action and to carry out his solemn responsibility under our nation’s clean air laws to protect the American people from air pollution. – Vickie Patton, General Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund
"It's disappointing that years of progress for cleaner air can be casually cast aside. American communities will suffer the consequences." – Mark Barker, Executive Assistant (Roanoke, VA), Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
“This ‘free Presidential pass to pollute’ in the guise of a Presidential exemption for our nation’s dirtiest, most toxic polluters puts frontline communities at risk from exposure to dangerous, highly toxic chemicals such as lead, arsenic, chloroprene, ethylene oxide, benzene, hexavalent chromium and other highly toxic chemicals. This action sacrifices the rights of communities facing the constant barrage of pollution from industries that can well afford the pollution controls to reduce the emissions. It is simply an unconscionable act by this administration.” – Jane Williams, executive director, California Communities Against Toxics
"Fenceline communities in Pennsylvania are already suffering a public health crisis from living through more than a century of recklessly polluting heavy industry. This exemption process is yet another novel way for the administration to favor billionaires and make sure that more of our neighbors breathe toxic air and are sickened and killed." – Alex Bomstein, Executive Director, Clean Air Council
“What country is this? What kind of government rolls back rules that would lower the life expectancy of its citizens? These rules were passed to protect the lives of Americans from environmental transgressors. In places like Laredo on the South Texas border, this move will accelerate rates of cancer from dangerous air toxics like ethylene oxide. We must stop them from killing us.” – Tricia Cortez, co-founder, Clean Air Laredo Coalition
“I can’t believe that we now have no protection from these highly toxic emissions which are placing our children at such risk that we have to move our school away from Denka’s fenceline. What about the rights, the health, and the wellbeing of the people who are suffering and dying from exposure to this pollution? The President is making sure these polluting plants have the right to kill us.” – Robert Taylor, Director, Concerned Citizens of St. John
“Trump’s EPA is keeping requests for these exemptions secret because it knows how outrageous it would be to issue permission slips for hundreds of chemical and coal companies to release toxic fumes that harm kids’ development, trigger asthma, and cause cancer. While the Trump administration lets corporations cash in, communities will pay the price in sickness and soaring medical bills.” – James Pew, Director of Federal Clean Practice, Earthjustice
"The Trump administration's talk of exemptions from air pollution rules is an abuse of the Clean Air Act and will undermine the health and wellbeing of communities across the country. These rules are meant to keep mercury pollution from coal plants out of the air we breathe and limit cancer causing benzene and other toxic emissions from steel and petrochemical plants that cause real harm to the American people. Instead of focusing on implementing the commonsense protections required by law, President Trump is sacrificing our health to give polluting corporations a break they are not entitled to." – Jen Duggan, Executive Director, Environmental Integrity Project
“No company polluting our Great Lakes and Midwest communities should be allowed a ‘get out of jail free card’ from responsibility to comply with our nation’s Clean Air Act and other environmental protection laws. The Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) is specifically calling for accountability from U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs with their three steel mills on the Lake Michigan shoreline to come clean and say publicly if they have sought or plan to seek exemptions.” – Howard Learner, Executive Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center
"With each blow of deregulation, we suffer the consequences of a government that upholds greed over human lives. Northwest Indiana leads the country in toxic emissions per square mile and is ground zero for the steel industry and its legacy impacts. These exemptions will give corporations free rein to pollute and poison us in the name of economic prosperity – prosperity for the Billionaires and Fossil Fuel Lobby at the cost of everyday people and workers, the Great Lakes watershed, and beyond. We must rise up and fight back for our future and the future of every community being sacrificed under this administration!" – Ashley Williams, Executive Director, Just Transition Northwest Indiana
“EPA Administrator Zeldin is offering the country’s most dangerous polluters a Free Pass to Pollute, courtesy of President Trump. Zeldin has even offered EPA’s services to help them apply! But let’s call this what it is: A travesty. It is astonishing to see an EPA administrator offer polluters speedy permission to spew toxic pollutants that will hurt children and families for generations. These hazardous air pollutants damage every organ in our bodies. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. Millions of mothers have an email for Lee Zeldin: ‘Exempt yourself from your position, ASAP. Your job is not to Make America Sick Again.’ Hitting Send!” – Dominique Browning, Director and Co-Founder, Moms Clean Air Force
“These industries are not in your backyard, Mr. President, we live here in Cancer Alley at the frontline of pollution from the petrochemical industry – we live here! These industries come here to pollute, to destroy our communities, our health, our children. This action you are taking to excuse them from the duty of controlling their toxic emissions put us in danger. Our lives matter!” – Sharon Lavigne, Executive Director, Rise St. James.
“For the last 40 years, the Sierra Club has worked with communities along ‘Cancer Alley’ in Louisiana to ensure that they have clean air to breathe. We have worked hard to pass good laws and regulations to clean our air. It is outrageous that now these corporations, who have poisoned our air for decades in Cancer Alley, can email the EPA and get a free pass to continue their unjust poisoning of our communities.” – Darryl Malek-Wiley, Senior Field Representative for New Orleans, Sierra Club
“Exempting industrial facilities from air toxics rules means that more Americans are at risk of dying from cancer, more children could be born with life-impairing birth defects, and more families face the fear of discovering that they are unable to have children at all. No one voted for dirty air that makes people sick.” – Keri N. Powell, Air Program Leader, Southern Environmental Law Center
“These exemptions undermine decades of hard-won progress to protect communities that have been burdened by industrial pollution for far too long. The EPA standards, which were established through tireless advocacy and effort, are vital safeguards for public health and worker safety. Allowing these protections to be weakened for corporate gain is an affront to the health and well-being of our communities in Houston’s East End, Manchester community, and it sets a dangerous precedent for all fenceline communities across the United States. The health of our communities cannot be compromised for profit, and these exemptions will only worsen the burden of cancer, asthma, and other health conditions. This is a direct attack on public health — unconscionable, discriminatory, and driven by corporate interests at the expense of people’s lives.” – Ana Parras, Executive Co-Director, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services
3/14/25 Release
JTNWI Statement on Health and Environmental Triple Threat: Proposed EPA Regulations, Governor Braun’s Executive Orders, and NEPA Rule Executive Order
The sweeping environmental deregulations proposed Wednesday by EPA will drastically impact public health and erase all progress on curtailing greenhouse gas emissions harming the planet. Additionally, the “reorganization and elimination” of all 10 EPA Environmental Justice offices effectively ends EPA’s efforts over three decades of trying to right historical wrongs to low-income and minority communities suffering the disproportionate effects of toxic industrial pollution.
At the state level, Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s two Executive Orders (25-37 and 25-38), signed within hours of EPA’s announcement, echo similarly destructive actions and hand the federal government control over the state’s environmental laws. Based on EPA’s threatening rollbacks and proposed eliminations protecting our air, water, and soil and Governor Braun’s newfound adherence to federal standards that could now effectively disappear, Indiana would have very few, if any, environmental laws or standards. Factually based sound science underscores that their actions will not safeguard health or the environment but will endanger, if not destroy, it.
Paving the way for such drastic actions was the Unleashing American Energy Act, the Executive Order President Trump signed in January, effectively commanding the Commission on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to gut all rules that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This would remove 50 years of foundational law that protects at-risk communities and provides reliable government protections of clean air and water by slashing the EPA budget by 65%.
The guardrails are effectively off, and historically overburdened environmental justice communities working so hard to create real change for health and the environment locally and nationally will suffer the first impacts in far-reaching consequences of removing the NEPA rules, the slashing of EPA regulations, and state rules. These actions will likely result in catastrophic impacts for Northwest Indiana, which has been unable to escape the toll of industrial pollution for over a century.
2/10/25 Release
JTNWI Statement on LaPorte County and NIPSCO Electric Rate Case Settlement Agreement to Evaluate Converting the Michigan City Coal Plant
Through a settlement with LaPorte County in its recent electric rate case last week, NIPSCO agreed to engage in studies to determine the potential of converting the Michigan City Generating Station (MCGS) and to evaluate other economic development prospects. In response to this news, JTNWI states:
The agreement reached between the County and NIPSCO uses the drastic and unconscionable 22% electricity rate hike to bypass community-driven redevelopment and divert attention from the necessary remediation that needs to occur on the MCGS lakefront site. We urge the LaPorte County commissioners to engage the community and accept public comments on these studies and issues related to the MCGS site before launching them.
If NIPSCO reneges on its commitment to completely retire the MCGS, it will continue to pollute the region and impede public health and safety. JTNWI is opposed to any decision that furthers the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, such a move will hamper Michigan City's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open up the Lake Michigan lakefront and create a true gateway to Indiana Dunes National Park, a significant source of tourism dollars. A recent Applied Economics Clinic Report on behalf of JTNWI illustrates beneficial community and economic examples of site reuse that maintain environmental integrity.
“As we anticipate some of the largest change points in our city’s history, with both the coal plant and state prison shuttering in the next few years, the fate of our community and our city’s west side hangs in the balance. Millions of tons of toxic coal ash waste sit on the lake at NIPSCO’s Michigan City coal-burning plant behind a failing seawall structure that threatens the drinking water for 10 million people. The Town of Pines is still struggling to seek justice decades after NIPSCO’s actions devastated their town with coal ash pollution. We deserve a just and equitable transition from fossil fuels that ensures the complete closure of the plant in 2028 and a community-led vision and plan for its reuse that promotes public well-being, generates local tax revenue, and guarantees family-sustaining jobs for impacted workers.
NIPSCO has a responsibility to the people of Michigan City to fully remove and clean up its legacy coal ash to restore the shoreline and eliminate environmental harm. NIPSCO must uphold its commitment to transition to renewable energy while focusing on increasing affordability and reducing energy waste. We encourage the LaPorte County commissioners to avoid making hasty decisions that will only serve to placate utility shareholders and tech profiteers and, instead, to authentically and inclusively engage the broader community in redevelopment plans and studies,” says Ashley Williams, executive director of JTNWI.
11/20/24 Release
JTNWI Statement on DOE MachH2 Awards
In response to the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) awarding of up to $1 billion to the Midwest Hydrogen Hub led by the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2), which covers Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa, on Wednesday, Just Transition Northwest Indiana released the following statements:
“We were literally in a meeting with DOE and OCED minutes before the announcement was made, with no mention that the award was being dropped today. We are justifiably stunned to see it suddenly flash over our news feed. We are fed up with the continuous lack of transparency. We are left with mounting questions more than answers about what we see as a dangerous experiment being conducted without our consent.”
“The announcement states 12,000 direct jobs will result from this hub, yet that number is highly disputable with no demonstrated evidence to back up these numbers or show that these jobs will employ local community members, be nothing more than temporary, or ensure essential worker safeguards.”
“In addition, the BP project’s main purpose is to generate “blue hydrogen.” This means toxic carbon dioxide created through the hydrogen production process will be transported via hundreds of miles of pipelines over six Indiana counties, starting in Lake County. However, today, OCED detailed it is not funding CCS projects through MachH2, and therefore, BP’s proposed CO2 pipeline falls outside of the promised community benefits plans included in the hubs permitting application structure. This convoluted situation allows for a tremendous amount of finger-pointing between federal agencies while at-risk environmental justice communities’ safety continues to be toyed with.”
“This past weekend, we hosted a rally event in the MachH2-impacted community of East Chicago, Indiana, to denounce the BP project and the secretive rollout process. Residents and regional leaders poured their hearts out about what this hub could mean. We are sick and tired of being a checkbox for DOE. That is exactly how we feel today.”