Indiana Environmental Reporter: Recent Episodes
Indiana Environmental Reporter
On Air with IER brings you news about environmental issues affecting the state of Indiana. We’ll scour the globe for the latest scientific developments and translate them into news that’s useful for you.
This week: We take a look at a bill that seeks to clamp down on the few remaining state protections for wetlands and the powerful building lobby behind it.
This week: Indiana joins a legal challenge against the Biden administration's expansion of federal protection for waterways, and Peru, Indiana residents brace for the results of an investigation into toxic TCE migrating from former Schneider Electric Square D manufacturing plant.
This week: We take a look at a pair of energy bills making their way through the Indiana General Assembly and one bill that seeks to make the state public retirement system another front in the right wing culture war.
This week: The definition of an ambiguous phrase determines which waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act. We take a look at the Biden administration's new-ish definition of "waters of the United States" and its turbulent history.
This week: Indiana's attorney general continues targeting investment companies seeking net-zero emissions, and one of the nation's largest steel mills pursues funding for a carbon capture and sequestration project.
This week: The EPA proposes raising biofuel quotas in fossil fuels and electric vehicles, and businesses and local governments warn of the hidden costs of cleaning up PFAS contamination.
This week: A company pays $9.8 million to settle claims it was responsible for pollution leading to an Elkhart Superfund site, and a new report finds there may be a lot more PFAS contamination around the country than we think.
This week: The Indiana Wetlands Task Force that was established as state lawmakers eliminated state protections for half of the state's remaining wetlands has released its final report, and Indiana's attorney general continues defending fossil fuels by taking on banks attempting to reduce their climate impact.
This week: New research finds kids could be breathing in toxic PFAS chemicals found in stain-proof school uniforms, and the Department of Energy finds 80% of active and retired coal-fired power plant sites could house advanced nuclear energy projects.
This week: Another year, another record high for greenhouse gases. We'll take a look at what that means for Indiana. Plus, Indiana’s attorney general gets the state involved in the fossil fuel industry's efforts to protect their profits.
This week: The EPA is beginning to crack down on two of the most well-known toxic PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, and Indiana researchers are working to better understand the thousands of other unregulated PFAS chemicals.
This week: After a fossil fuel-friendly member of the President's own party derailed the latest effort to pass legislation to combat the crisis climate, some Americans want Pres. Biden to use the full power of the presidency to turn the tide.
This week: In a decision that could have significant implications for Indiana, the U.S. Supreme Court limits the EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finds high levels of some PFAS chemicals in seafood products.
This week: The EPA's budget struggles claim a pair of Indiana air sensors, a group of PFAS firefighting foam makers will need to test their products for health effects, and Indiana's attorney general continues to oppose nationwide community efforts to get fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change effects.
This week: A federal court blocked a multi state effort aided by Indiana’s attorney general to help oil companies gain an advantage in a major climate change lawsuit, and the EPA lays out its plan to clean up a contaminated site in Franklin believed by residents to be contributing to an uptick in child cancer cases
This week: One of the state's leading research universities is looking into powering campus with a nuclear reactor, and we'll take a look at how new guidance requiring American-made steel for infrastructure projects could affect Hoosier health.
This week: Two towns in northwest Indiana make a deal after dumping tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage water into waterways for more than 10 years, and one of the state’s top financing officials talks to Congress about how to make a program to protect water quality better.
This week: A new report finds Indiana's waterways are too polluted to play in, and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoes a bill trying to stymie important regulations.
This week: A federal watchdog says the EPA needs to do more to make sure chemical facilities can withstand climate change effects, and a major new study finds more evidence that discriminatory housing policies are still affecting the health of minorities today.
This week: A new report finds the world is running out of time to prevent the worst effects of climate change, and a bill that would only allow state agencies in Indiana to enforce the bare minimum of environmental and other regulations is dead for now.
This week: Indiana lawmakers consider a pair of bills setting the foundation for the state's post-coal energy future, and U.S. senators try to stop governors from considering climate change during infrastructure spending.
This week: State lawmakers are on the verge of making an Ice Age mammal the state fossil, but is it "Indiana" enough? We take a look at their proposed animal, plus some other surprising Indiana-related fossils.
This week: Indiana lawmakers introduce legislation that would prevent state agencies from doing more than the federal government to protect human health and the environment and prevent the state from doing business with companies that want to move away from fossil fuels.
This week: We take a look at how a bill setting up a drainage task force could end up stripping away Indiana's few remaining wetland protections and why legislators are pushing bills to support carbon capture and sequestration.
This week: State PFAS testing finds "forever chemicals" in treated water in two community water systems, and a federal report finds state air compliance monitoring dipped by 28% during the early months of the pandemic.
This week: The EPA unveiled a new strategy to tackle lead exposure, and countries talk climate deals at the COP26 conference.
This week: Scientists shout for climate action and cement and concrete manufacturers unveil a plan for net zero carbon emissions.
This week: A Purdue University project will test how the Midwest can update its agricultural system for the 21st century, and the U.S. EPA lays out its strategy for tackling PFAS chemicals.
This week: The Indiana Wetlands Task Force is assembled; one of the state's "super polluter" power plants could soon have an official retirement date; and we take a look at whether Indiana lawmakers will stifle the state’s solar energy future.
This week: After a recent court ruling, the state of Indiana has to figure out which state waterways are still state waterways; a major steel company has to pay for a 2017 chromium spill; and an organization is helping people find a new life in farming.
On a new and improved On Air with IER: Tell City residents say a former General Electric plant is a risk to human health and property values; a proposed natural gas pipeline could impact plants and wildlife in southern Indiana; and South Bend renegotiates a deal to save hundreds of millions of dollars and protect water quality.
On a new and improved On Air with IER: Hoosiers are concerned about the health and environmental problems a new natural gas pipeline could bring to a part of the state already hammered by pollution; Indiana's Republican Congressional representatives have come out against a bill that could tackle PFAS pollution; and we look at one of the main obstacles to adopting renewable energy in the state - misinformation.
This week: A large majority of Hoosiers said 2020 was a difficult year and expect the next decade to be just as difficult, and an association of Midwestern companies and trade groups are against a new rule preventing pollution from high-polluting states from affecting the air quality in downwind states.
This week: The Biden administration announced it intends to increase the number of waterways protected by federal laws by revising the definition of "waters of the United States," and Indiana's attorney general has enlisted the entire state of Indiana in a legal battle to take on the EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
This week: IDEM Commissioner Bruno Pigott speaks about the "pretty tough" 2021 Indiana Legislative Session, groups want a planned I-69 bridge between Kentucky and Indiana to have pedestrian and cyclist access, and a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal could help significantly reduce Indiana's lead exposure problem.
This week: President Biden pledges a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and Gov. Eric Holcomb will have to decide whether or not to sign into law a bill that eliminates protections for much of the state's wetlands.
This week: House committees make major changes to two environmental bills in the Indiana Legislature, making a wetlands bill more palatable and a carbon market bill less so.
This week: An Indiana University professor nominated for the EPA's number two position faces the Senate; Indiana's energy grid operator says it will take "transformational change" to introduce more renewable energy into the grid; and a carbon market bill making its way through the Indiana Legislature could help us fight climate change while helping farmers in a big way.
This week, we take a look at several environmental bills making their way through the Indiana legislature. One bill seeks to remove all state protections for state wetlands. Another bill wants to make it difficult for local governments and state-funded universities to move away from fossil fuels. A third seeks to set the groundwork for a carbon market in Indiana.
This week: A federal court has struck down a key Trump administration air pollution rule that the EPA said could cause more air pollution and premature deaths, and South Bend's Mayor Pete is now Nominee Pete and making his case for a Transportation Department that carriers out President Joe Biden's climate goals.
This week: With only days left before the transition, the Trump EPA finalized a rule that restricts which data can be used to craft environmental legislation, and we take a look at President-elect Joe Biden's Climate Team.
This week: The Office of the Indiana State Chemist is considering some state-specific restrictions on dicamba, and climate activists discuss what steps President-elect Biden should take to combat climate change once he's in office.
This week: A new EPA proposal seeks to stop air pollution from upwind states like Indiana from crossing into downwind states and contributing to their pollution, and a federal judge ordered the FDA to complete an environmental analysis for genetically engineered salmon raised in Albany, Indiana.
This week: The EPA approved the registration of three dicamba products, despite previous federal court decisions invalidating earlier registrations and a growing number of complaints about the products’ safety. Plus, new research from Purdue University and an international team of researchers finds the same clouds that have helped Indiana feed the world could also be speaking volumes about the effect our actions have on the earth’s climate.
This week: The EPA has removed all or parts of 27 Superfund sites, including three Indiana sites, from the National Priorities List. Is the contamination threat at those sites really gone? Plus, an Indiana University professor will chair the EPA's scientific advisory board.
This week: The COVID-19 crisis is making more Hoosiers energy insecure, and Indiana lawmakers discuss a draft bill that could set the foundation for carbon offset trading in the state.
This week: The new owners of several steel mills in Indiana promise a "greener and more socially responsible" future for the facilities, Gov. Eric Holcomb awards six environmental excellence awards and Congress holds a hearing about improving clean energy access and affordability.
This week: IDEM closes the door on ephemeral streams protection in Indiana, and COVID-19 slows the military's transition to a PFAS-free firefighting foam.
This week: EPA's Region 5 is refuting a new report by the EPA's Office of the Inspector General that may have found major record keeping issues, Indianapolis Power & Light has settled a lawsuit alleging Clean Air Act violations at its Petersburg Generating Station, and climate resilience education efforts continue even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week: We take at the ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor, LLC steel mill. The facility recently had a big win in air quality, but is also under investigation for how it and its contracted laboratory tests samples of pollutants it dumps into nearby water sources.
This week: IER's Beth takes a look at complicated legacy of large scale farming in Indiana. It helps farmers stay in business and gets food to stores, but at what cost?
This week: Youth activists from West Lafayette want Purdue University to commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, and the IDEM commissioner speaks about the agency's actions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
This week: The EPA wants to know what you think about a plan to clean up a toxic Superfund site in Martinsville, a coalition in northwestern Indiana gives out awards for clean air contributions, and, after four years, the Trump administration restarts a committee meant to advise the USDA on ways to keep federal programs available to socially disadvantaged farmers.
This week: The EPA finalized a rule that could delay the closure of toxic coal ash ponds in Indiana and elsewhere, and new survey results find that race plays a role in how Hoosiers experience and perceive climate change and its risks.
This week: East Chicago residents are concerned the EPA will delist 671 properties from the Superfund National Priorities List before all health threats are removed, and a court has ordered the EPA to reassess whether Porter County meets national air quality standards for ozone.
This week: Once known for the healing power of its spring-fed spas, the city of Martinsville, Indiana now faces the specter of health threats caused by the contamination of its water supply.
This week: A group of scientists say a family of thousands of persistent and potentially toxic chemicals known as PFAS should be treated as a single chemical class to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of efforts to reduce their harm to human health and the environment, and the EPA wants to know what you think about a plan to cleanup the site of a former coal ash landfill threatening the Indiana Dunes National Park.
This week: A legal battle between IDEM and the EPA over the air quality designation for a small part of Huntington County could get even more complicated after three groups threaten to sue over supposed inaction, plus an Indiana farmer was one of several witnesses invited to testify about the proposed Growing Climate Solutions Act and other help farmers might need to enter the carbon credit market.
This week: A coalition of groups from across the nation threaten to sue the EPA unless it reviews flare standards for the first time in three decades, and a Goshen man faces multiple charges for an alleged "green product" scheme targeting Amish investors.
This week: A federal court ordered the EPA to ban the sale of three dicamba herbicides after understating the products risks and understating their damage, plus Congress hears how environmental injustice is helping COVID-19 hit some communities much harder than others.
This week: Researchers from Midwestern universities say the region needs to transform its current agricultural system to survive in the current century, and new survey results find a majority of Hoosiers agree on climate change issues once they get past some key points.
This week: Monroe County officials and two environmental groups sue to stop the U.S. Forest Service from implementing a plan they say could pollute Lake Monroe, and changes to a chemical reporting law could allow more companies to be exempt from reporting what chemicals they make near you.
This week: More than half a dozen Indiana communities will take the first steps in cleaning up potentially contaminated plots of land, and parts of two Indiana cities have met federal air quality standards but may not be free of health hazards.
This week: We get a first look at which companies are asking IDEM for leniency during the COVID-19 crisis, and people living near the Michigan City Generating Station prepare their response to a coal ash pond clean up plan that could leave behind a legacy of pollution.
This week: An Indiana University survey finds that only 1 in 5 Hoosiers thought a pandemic was possible, and northwestern Indiana residents are concerned a plan to close several coal ash ponds may not be enough to stop a legacy of pollution.
This week: Fallout from the COVID-19 crisis has dealt a serious economic blow to the clean energy industry. Plus, the combination of EPA's full-speed-ahead deregulation and COVID-19 "enforcement discretion" policy could put Hoosiers living near coal ash dump sites at risk.
This week: Both the U.S. EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have adopted "enforcement discretion" policies that will allow some forms of environmental regulation noncompliance during the COVID-19 crisis, and a new study has found that people living in communities with air pollution have a higher COVID-19 death rate than people living in less polluted communities.
This week: Farmers face off against precipitation and pestilence to feed the country, and climate and medical professionals say there's a direct link between human health and the health of the environment.
This week: The NOAA predicts above-average levels of rainfall and flood risk this spring, the Department of Defense it has identified many more military installations in the U.S. that may be contaminated with toxic PFAS chemicals.
This week: Two Indiana-based companies are in charge of destroying the DoD's PFAS firefighting foam, and Congress takes a crack at the nation's plastic waste crisis.
This week: A bipartisan bill making its way through the Indiana legislature seeks to limit the amount of PFAS firefighting foam used during training, and Congress grills the EPA administrator about the Trump administration's request to slash the agency's budget by 26%.
This week: A U.S. company decides to stop selling an Indiana-made pesticide linked to "brain abnormalities" in children; we look at who won the first stage of a legal battle to prevent the construction of a coal-to-diesel plant in Spencer County; and students learn about using aquatic life to grow food.
This week: A coalition of groups from the Great Lakes region say its members need more time to see how a change to one of the nation's first major federal environmental laws will affect them, and a new report says snowfall rates have drastically changed in the past 50 years.
This week: Indiana's youth climate leaders call for change in state's first Youth Climate Action Day, and we hear from opponents and proponents of a bill making its way through the Indiana legislature that seeks to slow down the retirement of coal-fired power plants.
This week: The Trump administration has finalized a rule that limits which waterways are under federal Clean Water Act protections, and we look into whether Indiana's 2019 agricultural fortunes are a sign of things to come.
This week: IDEM investigates whether a company responsible for a chemical release in Lake Michigan and the Little Calumet River is accurately reporting water samples; we take a look at the environmental issues Gov. Eric Holcomb brought up during the 2020 State of the State address; and a national non-profit organization is looking for 20 Indianapolis homeowners willing to transition to solar power at no cost.
This week: A group of researchers is reaching out to towns and cities across Indiana to create the first state-wide urban forest database, and we take a look at some bills introduced during the 2020 Indiana legislative session that could have an effect on the environment.
This week: A major electricity supplier in Indiana plans to retire two coal-fired units at its Petersburg Generating Station, and we take a look at what you can do to make sure your campfire fuel isn't helping spread invasive bugs.
This week: We take a look at why Indiana ranks 44th in the nation for new incidences of lung cancer, and the federal government makes a deal with a national cement company for alleged Clean Air Act violations.
This week: We talked to Alex Firov, a former Russian army soldier who survived the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 and eventually made his way to the U.S. Firov thought his first brush with environmental disaster would be his last. He was wrong. Plus, a federal report found that half of Indiana's toxic Superfund sites could be affected by flooding due to climate change.
This week: After disastrous flooding, officials in Goshen, Indiana embark on a journey of climate change resilience, and a new online tool seeks to help communities prepare for climate change before it's too late.
This week: A pair of environmental advocacy groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tighten national emissions standards for toxic pollution from steel mills, and an EPA proposal seeks to make it easier for farmers to spray pesticides but could endanger farmworkers.
This week: A new EPA proposal seeks to revamp a 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, and NASA just released nearly two decades of satellite precipitation data that could have great implications for future weather and climate predictions.
This week: Two midwestern environmental advocacy groups take the first step in suing the company that owns a steel mill in northwestern Indiana responsible for Clean Water Act violations, and the state of Indiana received a nearly half a billion dollar loan to improve water infrastructure projects in the state.
This week: A long-term Indiana University air pollution monitoring program will use a $5.9 million grant to measure the amount of PFAS chemicals in the Great Lakes, and a new book and movie chronicles the lawsuit that brought the toxic effect of those chemicals into the light.
This week: Hoosiers joined a global climate strike, and the EPA may rewrite a cross-state pollution rule after a court cracked down on open-ended compliance deadlines.
This week: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rolls back a 2015 rule that expands the definition of waterways protected by federal law, and the state of Indiana and 19 other states are backing up a federal air pollution law that may make air pollution worse.
This week: Lots of roll backs. The Trump administration rolls back a rule that would have made light bulbs more efficient, and the EPA rolls back limits on methane, a greenhouse has 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
This week: The town of Speedway is trying to find out who is dumping a large amount of industrial oil into the town's water supply, and a biofuel company says Big Oil's relationship with the Trump administration caused it to close a bioprocessing facility in Cloverdale, Indiana.
This week: We track a chemical release in the Little Calumet River, and we take a look at how changes to the Endangered Species Act could make it harder to protect vulnerable plants and animals.
This week: Community and environmental groups are suing the EPA for higher dust-lead standards, and environmental groups are concerned a Hoosier National Forest management plan may have a negative effect on the surrounding environment.
This Week: Air quality gains have slowed after two decades of improvement, and an app is helping beekeepers and growers check in on their bees without disturbing them.
This week: The U.S. EPA has chosen not to ban an Indiana-made pesticide linked to brain abnormalities and autism in children, and the state of Indiana has chosen the first round of proposals for Volkswagen settlement funding.
This week: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expands the use of a pesticide it admits is "very highly toxic" to bees, and teachers get lessons on how to teach students about climate change.
This Week: We learn more about a proposed Vigo County ammonia plant that seeks to have a near-zero carbon footprint, and health organizations are suing the Trump administration to stop an air pollution rule that could actually increase air pollution.
This week: A government report says some Defense Department facilities may not be prepared for the effects of climate change, and the IER crew talks about HBO's Chernobyl and the state of Indiana's own ticking time bombs.
This week: Wide-ranging PFAS legislation passes its first hurdle, and the Trump administration finalizes a controversial air pollution plan.
This week: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lifted a ban on the sale of higher ethanol blends of gasoline during the summer months, a move that will benefit corn growers in Indiana but could adversely affect the environment.
This week: We take a look at how the state of Indiana's position on pesticides in food products selected for the state's WIC program could be exposing needy Hoosier families to potentially toxic chemicals, and a pathogen deadly to oak trees threatens to spread in the state.
This week: The U.S. Navy wants residents living near NSA Crane to test their water wells for potentially hazardous PFAS compounds, and we take a look at why an Indianapolis apartment complex isn't allowed to use the solar power it produces.
This week: A new study warns that about 1 million plant and animal species are at risk due to human action, and Hoosiers may soon have to pay more money to recover from natural disasters.
This week: A new survey finds that a vast majority of Hoosiers say they believe in climate change, and Indiana officials hope to protect the state's native plants by banning some invasive plants.
This week: An Indiana recycling business executive was behind a scheme involving the illegal trashing and reselling of millions of dollars’ worth of potentially toxic electronic waste.
This week: For the past century, precipitation levels throughout the U.S. have risen. Now, NOAA scientists predict elevated flood risk levels through May. Is this man-made climate change or just a natural cycle? We take a look.
This week: After years of worrying, residents of Martinsville, Indiana find out whether their water is safe to drink, and seven facilities in Indiana get one of the nation's top energy efficiency distinctions.
This week: The nation's first coal-to-diesel plant is well on its way to being built in Dale, Indiana, but residents are split as to whether they should allow it to happen. PLUS, we take a look at how Indiana fared in this year's EPA Superfund report.
This week: We take a look at how a major road and bridge repair project in Indianapolis can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we talk about a new plan that will help Indianapolis deal with challenges caused by climate change.
This week: We conclude our look into a northern Indiana town fighting for clean water 30 years after undisclosed contamination at a coal ash landfill.
This week: The first part of our look into a northern Indiana town fighting for clean water 30 years after undisclosed contamination at a coal ash landfill.
This week: A new study says beneficial cover crops could have a temperature-changing dark side, and a beer maker gave wind power a multi-million dollar spotlight.
This week: A Purdue University professor has created a process to turn toxic coal ash into rare earth metals, and a central Indiana rideshare program lets Hoosiers save money on their commute while reducing emissions.
This week: People living or working near gas stations might be exposed to a far higher level of toxic fumes than previously thought, and we take a look at a restaurant named the best eco-friendly restaurant in the state of Indiana.
This week: IER investigates how the government shutdown is affecting national parks in Indiana, and we speak to an Obama-era official who says a new EPA proposal could allow power plants in Indiana and across the country to emit more toxic pollutants into the air and neuter future environmental policies.
This week: Millions of servicemembers and their families may have been exposed to chemicals linked to potentially deadly health conditions, and an Indianapolis group specializes in turning discarded building materials into fashion.
This week: A Chinese law threatens to reduce the number of endangered Amur tigers in the wild, and your choice of Christmas tree could make a significant environmental and economic difference.
This week: Two plans submitted by consecutive administrations, the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and the Trump administration's Affordable Clean Energy Rule, have different views on how the nation should regulate power plant emissions. Hear why both sides say their plan is better for the U.S.
This week: Many Hoosiers don't realize they are feeling the effects of climate change every day. Hear why scientists in Indiana say the changes will adversely affect current and future generations of Hoosiers.
This week: A team of Indianapolis artists are using shapes and open spaces to teach about the environment, and people are raising chickens in their backyards.
This week: A team of Indianapolis artists are using shapes and open spaces to teach about the environment and people are raising chickens in their backyards.
This week: you could be living in a toxic home and not even know it, and one of the nation's top animal conservation awards is based in Indianapolis.