Cancer-Causing Chemical Spill 100 Yards From Lake Michigan Closes Beaches

theantimedia.org

Indiana — Multiple Indiana beaches have been shut down following a spill of wastewater containing hexavalent chromium, a highly toxic chemical linked to cancer. The United States Steel company reported the leak occurred on Tuesday due to equipment failure at its Portage, Indiana, plant, a lapse that “resulted in a chemical leak into the waterway that forced the shutdown of a drinking water intake along Lake Michigan and several nearby beaches,” the Northwest Indiana Times explained.

Local outlet The Indy Channel also documented the circumstances, acknowledging the release of hexavalent chromium into the water:

“The USS Midwest Plant reported that they had a spill into the Burns Waterway Tuesday afternoon. The Environmental Protection Agency says the spill contained hexavalent chromium from the US Steel facility in Portage, Indiana.”

U.S. News reported that U.S. Steel said the leak was a result of a malfunctioning pipe, asserting “an expansion joint failed Tuesday in a pipe at its Portage, Indiana, facility, allowing wastewater from an electroplating treatment process that contains hexavalent chromium to flow into the wrong wastewater treatment plant at the complex.”