By VICKI URBANIK

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued a permit for a waste transfer station hotly opposed by Porter County officials and residents on both sides of the Porter-LaPorte County Line Road.

It’s unclear, however, just what’s next for the Great Lakes Transfer Station, proposed on about five acres north of U.S. 20 and about one-half mile south of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Mount Baldy.

In addition to a permit appeal from the citizens group R.A.T.I.O.N.A.L., Porter County is expected to stand firm in its decision not to issue the required driveway permit or to increase the road’s weight limit, Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper said Wednesday.

Harper said he fully expects the dispute over the road and its access limitations will end up in litigation.

Though the transfer station is proposed on the LaPorte County side, the road itself falls under the jurisdiction of Porter County, which is responsible for its maintenance.

The IDEM announced its permit decision Wednesday afternoon. The permit allows a solid waste facility on site, but notes that the permit does not exempt Great Lakes Transfer Station “from its duty to comply with any other federal, state or local requirements.”

The transfer station would serve as a collection site for trash before the garbage is loaded onto larger trucks for transport to a landfill. Residents in the area who have opposed the station have cited the dangers of increased truck traffic, the existence of Ice Age-era wetlands in the vicinity, the proximity of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and the potential for prehistoric artifacts on site.

For Pine Township residents in particular, the transfer station represents a step backward in the progress that they have made recovering from groundwater pollution attributed to the Brown Landfill.

For the Porter County Commissioners, one of the main issues has been that County Line Road is not an all-weather road and cannot withstand heavy trash-hauling trucks due to the poor soils. The commissioners have refused to lift the current weight limit on the road, which some have said would be needed in order for garbage trucks to get to the transfer station.

Harper was among those who spoke against the permit at the public hearing in late September. He said after the decision was issued Wednesday that he was “very disappointed.”

“I can’t believe they ruled that way,” he said.

He also cited his proposal for a scenic roadway overlay, in which the county’s scenic roads would be subject to rules on setbacks and building design. He said County Line Road, as scenic as it is, would likely be included in that designation, though he agreed that Porter County’s building restrictions couldn’t be enforced in LaPorte County.

One issue raised by many of the opponents was their contention that Great Lakes’ permit application was incomplete and did not give enough detail. At one point, IDEM asked Great Lakes Transfer to submit more information.

The IDEM permit, which includes a summary response to the concerns raised by the public, addresses the road access issue by saying that the application shows road access. But the response also indicates that the transfer station would still need to abide by local requirements.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Dale Engquist said the IDEM has broad regulatory powers, so he finds it questionable that IDEM did not address the access limitations on County Line Road. At the federal level, all such key issues would be explored before any decision is made, he said.

Pine Township Trustee/Assessor Nancy Kolasa had a similar concern. “I just don’t know how they’re going to get trucks down that road legally,” she said, adding that she thought IDEM should have addressed that issue since it’s so critical.

Engquist said the National Lakeshore has not yet been officially notified of the permit decision and that it still has unanswered questions and concerns.

Noting that material coming to the transfer station is permitted to include infectious and hazardous waste, Engquist said the National Lakeshore does not believe that the permit application included sufficient plans for stormwater control or emergency response in dealing with these wastes.

He called the application “greatly lacking,” “very sketchy” and “hard to evaluate.”

“I do believe there were a lot of legitimate concerns ... that just haven’t been answered, at least not to our satisfaction,” he said.

Kolasa said Pine Township residents are very disappointed, though not necessarily surprised by the decision.

“It’s just not a good day for the residents of the Pines,” she said. “We just don’t understand IDEM.”

Posted 11/10/2005