Great Lakes
Site Information
- Hammond, IN (Lake County)
- Grand Calumet River AOC
- Status: Cleanup Completed, 2012
Contact
Diana Mally
(mally.diana@epa.gov)
Great Lakes National Program Office
312-886-7275
Roxana Marsh Legacy Act Cleanup
Grand Calumet River Area of Concern
Cameron Davis, advisor to the EPA Administrator, talks about the successful Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup of the Roxana Marsh on the Grand Calumet River in Indiana. (Video courtesy of Wisconsin Sea Grant 
)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Indiana Departments of Environmental Management and Natural Resources began their second phase of work in June 2011.
Phase II
Phase II calls for the removal of about 235,000 cubic yards of polluted sediment (mud) from the river between Columbia Avenue in Hammond, IN and Indianapolis Blvd in East Chicago, IN, as well as the marsh, followed by the placement of a cap over the dredged area in the river. This cap consists of 6 inches of organoclay covered by an additional 12 inches of sand and will cover approximately 345,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment.
Phase II dredging operations were completed in December 2011. The restoration took place in spring 2012.
Phase I
Phase I was completed in August 2011 and entailed the cleanup of a one-mile stretch of the West Branch Grand Calumet River in Hammond from Columbia Avenue west to Hohman Avenue. Phase I cleaned up just under 150,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment through the removal of the top two feet of sediment and the placement of a cap over the remaining sediment.
Upon completion, phases I and II of this Great Lakes Legacy Act project will have remediated 730,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), heavy metals, and pesticides.
Funding
EPA is providing 65 percent of the projected $50 million project cost of phase II using Great Lakes Legacy Act funds. The State of Indiana is contributing 35 percent of the project cost using Natural Resources Damage Assessment funds. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) are cooperating in the Grand Calumet River cleanup.
You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Documents
- Open house flier (PDF) (1 pg, 305K) January 2012