By PAULENE POPARAD

Questions arose Tuesday over how consultants to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will arrive at their conclusions when trying to determine the amount and types of pollution flowing into Lake Michigan, and from where it’s originating.

The session was a status update on IDEM’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study of Lake Michigan. TMDL is a plan required by the federal Clean Water Act to determine the amount of pollutants that can enter the nation’s waterways and still meet water quality standards. Pollutants can include industrial discharges, septic or municipal sewage, pesticides, soil and polluted storm water run-off, and naturally occurring animal waste.

Pollution sources are identified as either a known point source, like a sewage treatment plant, or a non-point source like run-off that carries animal fecal matter from the forest floor or a dairy farm.

In addition to the lake, five of its tributaries that empty into it also are being studied by four engineering firms under $484,000 in contracts.

Fredric Andes of attorneys Barnes and Thornburg, which he said likely will represent municipalities in this matter, expressed concern yesterday that the computer model to be used for Lake Michigan is different than the ones to be used in the ongoing TMDL studies of the east and west branches of the Little Calumet River, Burns Ditch, Salt Creek and Trail Creek.

“It’s comparing apples and oranges,” Andes said. “You can’t plug results from one model into another model. To do the lake separately, you have the possibility of a disconnect.”

Consultants from Tetra Tech Inc. laid out yesterday how they plan to conduct their TMDL assessment of Indiana’s 43-mile Lake Michigan shoreline. In response to Andes, Kevin Kratt of Tetra Tech said, “It can be done this way.” Staci Goodwin of IDEM added that no one at this point knows which modeling approach is best.

Lake Michigan is designated as an impaired waterway; several of its swimming beaches close daily each season due to high concentrations of E. coli, a bacterium that indicates the presence of human sewage and animal manure. E. coli is also an indicator of other disease-causing organisms possibly being present.

In addition to E. coli information, an inventory of shoreline population, topography, land uses, characteristics, climate, weather, lake hydrology and water quality also will be collected.

Tetra Tech’s findings are due in late 2003, after which IDEM hopes to draft and submit a final TMDL implementation plan for federal review. The plan will include a schedule for starting the recommended activities, an estimate of time to attain water quality standards, a monitoring plan, measurable milestones, and actions required if those milestones are not met.

Tuesday, Ana Maria Garcia of Tetra Tech said 6,332 E. coli samples taken between May, 1984 and July, 2002 from 30 stations are being used in the TMDL study. Known and potential pollution sources will be identified, as well as what conditions --- such as sunlight, temperature, pH and sediment --- might make the E.coli problem worse.

“We’ll look at every factor we know that pertains to survival of E. coli,” said Garcia.

Bob Daum of the National Park Service said lake algae is the perfect medium to grow E. coli, which possibly exists over winter in the sand. Tom Anderson of Save the Dunes Council noted malfunctioning lakefront septic systems and boats dumping on-board sewage into the lake affect water quality.

Some in the audience questioned how these and other less-evident pollution sources would be analyzed in the Tetra Tech study. Mike Morton of Tetra Tech said the computer model they will use is extremely versatile and has the capability of three-dimensional simulation of water movement, water quality, sediment transport and toxics.

Kratt said, “There undoubtedly will be a lot of assumptions in this. There’s never been a TMDL with perfect data.” The Lake Michigan TMDL will be the first done for one of the Great Lakes.

Andes also questioned whether genetic testing would be done on the E.coli samples to determine if they from humans or animals. Goodwin said that’s not something IDEM is opposed to doing, but the cost is prohibitive. “We’re looking into it (but) our budget’s been cut again.”

Attorney James Meyer, representing the Gary Sanitary District, was among those who questioned Morton’s data that showed average lake currents moving from west to east even though some towns have complained that man-made lakefront structures have blocked the natural flow of sand from east to west.

Meyer also asked how waterways flowing into the lake --- like Trail Creek, Brown Ditch or Kintzele Ditch --- can be assigned an accurate pollution allocation. Morton said the model will do that to the degree possible, adding that no model is 100 percent accurate. Tetra Tech’s next public status meeting will include a source assessment and a proposed modeling plan.

Ricky Dodd, superintendent of the Portage Water Reclamation Facility, and city engineer Craig Hendrix expressed concern that municipal wastewater treatment plants, which must be permitted by IDEM, will bear the brunt of IDEM’s attempts to improve Lake Michigan water quality.

“There’s nothing new here,” said Hendrix after the meeting. “Why don’t they use the ($484,000) to fix failing septic tanks? You can only squeeze so much blood out of a turnip. If they impose limits that change our processes, that could cost tens --- hundreds --- of thousands of dollars and we’re not even the ones polluting.”

“We’re easy targets,” said Dodd.

Goodwin said TMDL doesn’t have any enforcement power, and that it will take time to develop an implementation plan. Snapping her fingers, “We don’t think like that it will be done. It’s a very long process.” Goodwin added, “From preliminary information, the point-source discharges are not the problem.”

Also present was Ginny Sherman, laboratory supervisor at the Chesterton sewage treatment plant. She helps the Park Service sample the Little Calumet River and Lake Michigan beaches for E. coli.

While the treatment plant now meets required standards, new TMDL standards are a concern, she said. “We’re wondering what they might come up with. There’s always the possibility it could cost us more money.”

The treatment plant currently is undergoing an expansion, in large part to lessen the possibility of releasing partially treated sewage during a major storm event. When completed, it’s anticipated the plant won’t experience combined sewer overflows unless there’s a catastrophic rain event, said Sherman.

According to IDEM, once established, the TMDL will help local communities play a direct role in improving and maintaining the quality of their waterways.

Posted 12/11/2002