Grand Calumet River Area of Concern
Lake Michigan Beach Monitoring and Notification
Lake Michigan Lake Action & Management Plan
Indiana Clean Marinas
Indiana Clean Boaters
About the CARE Committee:
The Citizens Advisory for the Remediation of the Environment (CARE) plays an active role in advising IDEM on the removal of the 12 remaining Beneficial Use Impairments(BUIs) that apply to the AOC. The committee is comprised of representatives from municipalities, local organizations, industries, and agencies who are dedicated to improving the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the area’s ecosystem. IDEM benefits greatly from the technical and historical expertise of CARE members.
Committee members are appointed by the IDEM commissioner and meet regularly to provide input to IDEM on the criteria (removal targets) and the tasks (management actions) necessary to remove the remaining BUIs and delist the AOC. CARE also educates the public about its progress and the status of BUI removal activity in the AOC. Recent examples of CARE education and outreach have included Public Learning Events and AOC Seminars.
Current CARE Members:
CARE members are designated to serve on the committee by the IDEM commissioner. In addition, staff from several federal and state agencies actively participate in Remedial Action Planning (RAP) activities pertinent to CARE’s mission. These agency staff provide critical technical support and advice to the committee but are not designated by the IDEM commissioner. Current designated members of the committee are:
- Indiana Department of Environmental Management:
- Michael Spinar (CARE Co-chair)
- Citizens Advisory for the Remediation of the Environment:
- John Fekete (CARE Co-chair)
- Cleveland Cliffs, Indiana Harbor:
- Tom Barnett
- Mariya Trenkinshu
- City of East Chicago:
- Fernando Treviño
- City of Gary:
- Brenda Scott-Henry
- Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant:
- Leslie Dorworth
- Indiana University Northwest:
- Peter G. Avis
- The Nature Conservancy:
- Joel Perez-Castaneda
- Susan MiHalo
- NiSource:
- Steve Barker
- Northwest Indiana Forum:
- Kay Nelson
- Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission:
- Jennifer Birchfield
- Northwest Indiana Urban Waters Federal Partnership:
- Victoria Wittig
- Purdue University Northwest:
- Dr. Stephen Turner
- Save the Dunes Conservation Fund:
- Betsy Maher
Grand Calumet River AOC Overview Presentation
IDEM and the Citizens Advisory for the Remediation of the Environment (CARE) have developed an overview presentation [PDF] of the Grand Calumet River / Indiana Harbor Ship Canal Area of Concern (AOC) and the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for the AOC. Hoosiers wishing to provide suggestions for how to improve the presentation are encouraged to contact IDEM.
CARE Public Information Sessions:
The CARE Committee has had a long history of having public informational meetings to share the work being done to make progress towards delisting the AOC. For several years that took the form of evening information sessions quarterly. This then evolved to an annual CARE seminar from 2013-2017 and were half and full day events respectively that were full, day-long public events. Most recently, public learning events have been held again throughout the year. These meetings are to provide updates on the development and status of various projects that support the removal of the remaining BUIs and ultimately delist the Grand Calumet River as an Area of Concern in the Great Lakes. Members of the public are also given an opportunity to ask questions about projects and provide feedback to the CARE Committee at these events. IDEM publicizes the public learning sessions through our website, social media (Facebook and Twitter), local media, and other outlets.
Presentations from some of the more recent public learning sessions:
- August 21, 2018: East Chicago Marina, East Chicago
CARE Workgroup Meetings:
The CARE Committee holds technical workgroup meetings to advise IDEM regarding BUI removal targets and projects that support the removal of the remaining BUIs to delist the AOC, in accordance with the RAP.
Summaries of previous meetings are provided below for public review. None of these meetings are designed to be formal public hearings or meetings for any agency regulatory action and comments made by the public during this process are only informative for the RAP process and CARE.
- August 25, 2022 [PDF]
- July 28, 2022 [PDF]
- June 23, 2022 [PDF]
- May 26, 2022 [PDF]
- April 28, 2022 [PDF]
- February 24, 2022 [PDF]
- January 27, 2022 [PDF]
- December 8, 2021 [PDF]
- October 28, 2021 [PDF]
- September 23, 2021 [PDF]
- July 22, 2021 [PDF]
- June 24, 2021 [PDF]
- May 27, 2021 [PDF]
- April 22, 2021 [PDF]
- March 25, 2021 [PDF]
- February 25, 2021 [PDF]
- January 28, 2021 [PDF]
- December 17, 2020 [PDF]
- October 22, 2020 [PDF]
- September 24, 2020 [PDF]
- August 27, 2020 [PDF]
- July 23, 2020 [PDF]
- June 25, 2020 [PDF]
- May 28, 2020 [PDF]
- February 27, 2020 [PDF]
- January 23, 2020 [PDF]
- August 30, 2019 [PDF]
- February 26, 2019 [PDF]
- January 22, 2019 [PDF]
- December 18, 2018 [PDF]
- November 27, 2018 [PDF]
- September 25, 2018 [PDF]
- July 26, 2018 [PDF]
How to Sign Up for CARE Updates:
Interested parties may register for CARE updates via text or email by using the State of Indiana’s GovDelivery service. Users may access this service while on this webpage by clicking the envelope icon under the Social Links portion of the navigation bar. The CARE subscription topic is found at the bottom of the IDEM Quick Subscribe page.