HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a $26 million cleanup will begin this month of contamination on the Lake George Canal in northwestern Indiana.
The EPA says sediment will be dredged in Hammond and East Chicago, Indiana. Work is expected to be completed in 2020.
The canal flows into Lake Michigan and is part of the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern , which has been identified as the U.S. and Canada as a Great Lakes basin toxic hotspot. The East Chicago Waterway Management District, Atlantic Richfield Co. and BP Products North America are involved in the cleanup.
The river flows 13 miles (21 kilometers) through Gary, East Chicago and Hammond. Steelmaking, meatpacking and oil refining contaminated the river’s sediment with heavy metals and PCBs as well as oil and grease.