Read more comments on Twitter @ELPCenter #ptcbriefing

Fox Business News reported the story here.

Equipped with the PTC, the wind energy industry has contributed impressively to U.S. economic development. During this free ELPC webinar, ELPC and wind industry executive Scott Viciana discussed the impact of the PTC and proposed legislation to extend it.  If you weren’t able to listen in to the live webinar, you can download the slides and listen to the audio for free.

“These rivers are examples of how clean water creates recreational jobs and businesses and improves the quality of life in Indiana,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Indiana officials should work to ensure all our rivers are this clean.”

Indiana’s weak state policies and lax enforcement have allowed the many of the state’s rivers and lakes to become fouled by algae blooms, toxins, sedimentation and dangerous pathogens, but the work of landowners, clean water advocates and some public agencies has helped protect these valuable waterways and the businesses that depend on them.

ELPC explains the value of Indiana’s clean rivers through the stories of people who depend on them like Jason Seward, owner of Clement’s Canoes on Sugar Creek and Tom Todd, a fishing guide who works on the East Fork of the White River. These stories, as well as video and professional photos are all available at www.INourwater.org

The website will give Indiana residents the tools to tell their own stories about water and take action to clean up waterway across the state. ELPC is working to increase awareness of the pollution issues facing Indiana and engage the public in calling for solutions.

Three of Indiana’s Cleanest Rivers

1. Sugar Creek. Sugar Creek is home to a rare variety of fish and wildlife, including bald eagles, blue herons and over 70 species of fish. Indiana’s Health Rivers INitiative will protect 43,000 acres of land along this ecologically critical waterway.  Jason Seward is one of the people that depend on the water quality in Sugar Creek for a living. Seward owns Clements Canoe and Outdoor Center, one of several canoe liveries on Sugar Creek.

2. The Tippecanoe River. The Tippecanoe River meanders through northern Indiana for 225 miles before emptying into the Wabash River. Biologists consider the Tippecanoe a bench mark for what healthy rivers in the region should look like today.   Tom Denham’s family has benefitted from the clean waters of the Tippecanoe since the 1930’s, when they bought land along the river near Winamac and began renting out cabins. Over the years, Denham has seen water quality improve and wildlife thrive on the river.

3. East Fork of the White River. The fishing on the East Fork of the White River is good enough to attract customers from as far away as New York and Hawaii and to keep fishing guide Tom Todd busy throughout the season.

Todd works on a meandering stretch of the East Fork between Lawrenceport and Hindostan Falls. Todd’s business depends on good water quality, and he says the East Fork is cleaner today than it’s been in the past.

“Now that they’re on the path to shutting down, the question is how soon the site will be ready for redevelopment,” said ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner told the Tribune. “We have an opportunity to replace a dirty clunker with an extension of open space along Lake Michigan.”

Read the Chicago Tribune article here

Read ELPC’s story on the Geist Reservoir here

Read coverage in the Indy Star here

Take Action: Help Protect Indiana Waterways from Dangerous Algae Blooms

“Clean rivers and safe water are fundamental to our quality of life,” said ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner. “Each time we turn on the tap, build a new home, swim, fish or canoe, clean water affects our lives.”

ELPC illustrates Indiana’s water pollution problems through the stories of Indiana natives like Scott Rodgers, a homeowner on the Geist Reservoir who’s working to prevent the dangerous algae blooms that threaten the reservoir where he boats, and Marjorie Vance, who is trying to prevent a factory farm from being built near her home. These stories, photos and videos are all available on the project website www.INourwater.org

The website gives the public the tools to tell their own stories about water pollution and take action to clean up waterways across the state.

ELPC is working to increase awareness of the pollution issues facing the state and engage the public in calling for solutions like statewide pollution limits for phosphorus and better water quality standards for factory farms.

Indiana’s Polluted Rivers and Lakes

·         Geist Reservoir, Indianapolis

The reservoir that provides drinking water to Indianapolis residents also suffers from high levels of toxic cyanobacteria and huge, unsightly algae blooms. Phosphorus pollution from fertilizer, wastewater treatment, agriculture and other sources causes the algae blooms that plague many of Indiana’s waters. Scott Rodgers lives on the Geist Reservoir and is working with other homeowners, government officials and advocates to protect the water in his backyard.

·         Turtle Creek Reservoir, Merom

Turtle Creek Reservoir is actually the cooling pond for Hoosier Energy’s Merom coal plant near the Wabash River. Turtle Creek was a popular spot for bass fishing in the 1990’s, but in recent years the population of bass and other game fish has plummeted. Turtle Creek receives runoff from a nearby coal ash landfill and wastewater from the coal plant’s cooling system. Coal ash and coal plant wastewater have created unsafe conditions in other Indiana waters.

·         Rivers and Lakes in Kosciusko County

Manure from the 77 large livestock operations in Kosciusko County has damaged the area’s lakes and streams, including the Lake Wawasee, Lake Tippecanoe, Eel River and Yellow Creek. Before more factory farms are built in the area, residents like Marjorie Vance and Janet Ecklebarger think the state needs better safeguards to protect their lakes, streams and drinking water.

·         Young’s Creek Watershed, Johnson County

Streams in Johnson County are stripped of trees and plants and dredged into ditches. This “ditching” is practiced throughout Indiana as a means to drain farm fields.  But inappropriate ditching destroys natural habitat and increase sedimentation, erosion and chemical runoff downstream. Gary Moody is advocating for more public input and less destructive ditching practices.