By VICKI URBANIK

Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Tom Easterly kicked off the local Earth Day celebration on Sunday with a positive message about the state of the environment in the region.

Easterly told his audience, gathered in a barn at the Sunset Hill Farm County Park, that he can recall driving through the region and wondering how people survived here. But since then, significant progress has been made cleaning up contaminated sites and improving the air quality.

Clean air in Northwest Indiana “is not the perception most people have” of the region, Easterly said. But he pointed out that federal officials just recently designated LaPorte County as in full compliance with ozone standards, and that they will next consider re-designating Lake and Porter counties as well.

Air quality in Northwest Indiana is significantly better than it used to be, with the air monitor at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore showing the best results in the entire state, Easterly said.

“One of our challenges is to convince the federal government that it’s really true,” he said.

Easterly, a former Valparaiso resident and supervisor at Bethlehem Steel’s Burns Harbor plant, made his remarks at the opening of the Earth Day festival sponsored by the Recycling & Waste Reduction District of Porter County. The all-day event featured booths, educational workshops, children’s activities, and displays of alternative fuel and all-electric vehicles.

Easterly noted than in January of 2005, 11 Indiana counties didn’t meet federal ambient air quality standards, and Lake and Porter counties were not among those 11. Now, only Clark and Marian counties are in non-compliance.

Easterly also said that two years ago, 107 Indiana communities had sewage systems that commonly experienced combined sewage overflows. Currently, 49 of these have either solved their CSO problem or have seen significant progress. These include five Northwest Indiana communities: Crown Point, LaPorte, Michigan City, Lowell and Valparaiso.

As evidence of the ongoing environmental improvements in the region, Easterly said many animal species such as coyote and heron have returned to the area. Beavers have also made a return to the point that they are now considered a nuisance by some.

“Other animals are coming back ˆ it’s clean for them,” he said.

Easterly praised the partnerships with IDEM that have been formed among various and diverse groups in the region, such as the Northwest Indiana Forum and the Save the Dunes Council. He also praised the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center, of which he has served as president, noting that learning centers are not that common but fill an important role in environmental education.

Easterly emphasized that land use decisions are local decisions, and that local people the best ones to decide if a specific project is wanted in their community. The role of the IDEM when issuing permits is to focus only on whether a specific project meets environmental criteria, he said.

“That’s way different than what most people want us to do,” he said.

He noted that he has heard complaints about some permits IDEM has issued. Though he didn’t give an example, IDEM’s issuance of a permit for a waste transfer station on the Porter-LaPorte County Line Road has prompted criticism.

But Easterly said permit issues are not the same as land use decisions, which should be made by local officials, not the state. Just because IDEM determines that projects meet environmental standards, “doesn’t mean you should allow them,” he said.

Easterly said the IDEM’s goal is to increase the personal income of all Hoosiers to national average. Though such a goal may sound odd for a state environmental agency, Easterly pointed out that when the economy is doing well, businesses perform better environmentally as well.

He presented a chart showing that countries with higher per capita income in general have a cleaner environment. (The United States was ranked among those countries that didn’t meet the environmental threshold; Easterly said the U.S. wasn’t identified as one of the cleaner countries, because of policies on greenhouse gases.)

Easterly cited energy use as one of the top environmental concerns. Along with urging people to buy energy efficient appliances and compact fluorescent lighting, he urged people to walk and bike more and to use mass transportation.

Mass transit is “still a challenge” in Northwest Indiana because the opportunities are limited. But the need for improved mass transportation is clear: “It’s the opportunity of the future.”

Posted 4/23/2007