Citation:

Newcomer Johnson, Tamara, L. Sharpe, Katelyn Barrett, AND K. Hines. Lake Sandy Jo Presentation. Lake Sandy Jo Community Meeting, Gary, IN, October 20, 2022.

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objective of the Lake Sandy Jo landfill Superfund Site is to remain protective of human health and the environment. By identifying ranges of alternative use scenarios and how best to utilize this site for each scenario for the benefit of the community, this project would provide the city and owners insight regarding how to move forward with reuse and redevelopment opportunities for the Site in ways that best serve the values of the community while preserving the primary protective function of the site. Identifying acceptable reuse options and tradeoffs will position the city and the owners to move forward with site feasibility assessments and pursue of resources to support reuse activities that are likely to be supported by the community. This presentation is for the 2nd Community Workshop and it provides a summary of the Nature's Benefits of interest expressed in the 1st Community Workshop. The intent is for this presentation to include plenty of dialog with the community so that we can make sure we understand their priorities so that ORD knows the appropriate metrics to model for the scenarios identified by the community.

Description:

Lake Sandy Jo landfill is a Superfund Site located in Gary, Indiana. Capping on the Site was completed in 1994 and institutional controls were put in place. Although initially planted as a prairie, it has not been maintained as such. The Site remains protective of human health and the environment but offers no other obvious benefits to the community. City officials have continuously expressed interest in reusing the site for commercial or recreational use. Such reuse, however, would likely require additional remediation and site engineering on the part of the developer. The landfill, consisting of approximately 50 acres and 55 parcels, is owned by private individuals and the City of Gary. The impact of climate change on the Site in the last 5 years has caused some concerns about the future protectiveness of the remedy in its current state. A major rain event in 2018 led to the temporary flooding of the northern part of the landfill and a fire in an adjacent area in 2020 spread to part of the landfill. Traditional methods of maintaining the Site as an open field have costs beyond maintenance expenditures (mowing, fencing, etc.) including emitting of air pollutants and using fossil fuels in an area already burdened by other air pollution sources. The climate impacts, along with the proposed partial deletion of the Site from the National Priorities List, and the ongoing Sixth Five-Year Review of the Site has led to vocal community interest in Site planning activities. In addition, the Site’s location in a mixed-use area near heavily industrialized and low-income area of the city makes Environmental Justice (EJ) and Climate Justice concerns paramount in potential reuse projects.

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