Cause No. 2:17-cv-048-PPS
Description:
CLC is representing Hoosier Environmental Council in a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the United States and the Hammond Sanitary District in order to prevent the parties from indefinitely delaying compliance with the Clean Water Act.
The Little Calumet River, which stretches from Gary to the Des Plaines River in Illinois, has long been used by Hammond as the receiving water for millions of gallons of untreated sewage and other wastewaters from its combined sewer system. Hammond has repeatedly fought to continue discharging its untreated sewage into the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet Rivers instead of installing the improvements needed to treat all of its wastes. At least since 1993, the United States has been in litigation with the Hammond Sanitary District over its violations of the Clean Water Act. The parties reached agreement in 1999, but the Sanitary District quickly violated the terms of that consent decree resulting in further litigation and, ultimately, a new consent decree with the United States and the State of Indiana in 2017.
The 2017 Consent Decree requires the Hammond Sanitary District (HSD) to construct a new treatment facility designed to prevent millions of gallons of untreated sewage and other wastewaters from entering the Little Calumet River. In late 2024, HSD quietly stopped work on the new treatment facility, claiming their reason for delay to be a dispute between its members (Hammond and Munster) over cost sharing. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) have taken no action to prevent this indefinite delay.
Current Status:
Hoosier Environmental Council (“HEC”) asked to intervene in the lawsuit between the United States and the Hammond Sanitary District to prevent the parties from indefinitely delaying compliance with the Clean Water Act as set out in a Consent Decree entered in federal court in 2017. HEC is represented by Michael Zoeller and Rachel Schwartz of the Conservation Law Center.
Court Documents
