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Wastewater Treatment Plant Lagoons Remediation and Closure

Closure assistance of multiple Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs)

Client: National Steel Corporation | Location: Northern Indiana 

Weaver Consultants Group was retained by the National Steel Corporation to assist with the closure of multiple Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) including surface impoundments, wastewater treatment basins, hazardous waste storage areas, and pre-RCRA land disposal sites at their Midwest Plant. Weaver Consultants Group drafted the negotiated the approval of multiple RFI and Corrective Action Workplans collaboratively working with NPS (National Park Service), IDEM, and USEPA Region 5. Weaver Consultants Group was subsequently retained to oversee implementation of the approved RCRA Corrective Action Workplans. One of these closures was for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Lagoons SWMU, which were formerly used as wastewater treatment sludge drying lagoons. Weaver Consultants Group investigated the lagoons and developed a Corrective Action Plan designed to achieve closure in anticipation of a future recreational use for the property. Under Weaver Consultants Group’s observation, remedial action was completed, and a demonstration made showing concentrations of target constituents in the soil were below approved closure levels. 

Remediation consisted of the excavation and stabilization of sludges in an on-site hazardous waste landfill designed and permitted by Weaver Consultants Group. The Wastewater Treatment Plant Lagoon SWMU was closed with IDEM and USEPA determinations that no further action would be required. Upon completion, Weaver Consultants Group supported National Steel Corporation in conveying the property to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for recreational use. The facility opened as Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Park along the Lake Michigan Shoreline in 2008.