Drainage board extends dewatering discharge permit at ITC‑3 site amid public concern about wetlands and cumulative water use

The St. Joseph County Drainage Board voted to extend a dewatering discharge permit for the northern portion of the ITC‑3 site for 12 months, allowing ongoing utility installation work to continue under the same discharge conditions.

Staff and the project representative said the extension does not change permitted discharge conditions and that contractor monitoring (identified in the record as Walbridge/AWS) will continue reporting discharge volumes. A staff summary stated the earlier permit authorized up to about 1,400,000 gallons per hour; in recent weeks the site has been discharging roughly half that amount — “about 600,000 to 700,000 gallons an hour” — while not all pumps have been running.

The board approved the extension after staff noted the permit’s existing monitoring regime and that construction draws are expected to continue into the next farming season. The recorded expiration date being extended was March 25; the requested extension covered the following 12 months. A motion to approve the extension was made and seconded and carried on a voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Multiple members of the public used the meeting’s public-comment period to raise environmental and water‑resource concerns tied to the site and regional development. Deborah Durrell urged the board to consider conserving local wetlands rather than permitting mitigation credits to be purchased and used elsewhere: “I want to appeal to whatever agency you have as decision makers to keep this in mind and try to raise the bar that we can do development. We can provide green jobs instead of the kinds of jobs and kinds of development we are doing to erode our pristine wetlands.”

Resident Dan Caruso reminded the board of a county commissioners’ cap on daily withdrawals established earlier and warned about cumulative pumping: he said commissioners had set a 24,000,000‑gallon‑per‑day cap and that combined discharges previously exceeded that cap; he urged stakeholder talks if withdrawals continue to rise. Caruso said the concern is that sustained heavy pumping could eventually cause supply impacts or increased costs for other users.

Another resident, Brent Burkus, asked the board to investigate water-quality changes he attributes to city discharges that have left the Dixon Place Ditch “dead,” and he urged the drainage board to coordinate with state agencies and the health department where appropriate. The transcript also records an exchange in which staff suggested the appropriate agencies for water‑quality review include IDEM and the county health department.

Board staff said they would continue to require monitoring reports from the permit holder and that the board expects the permit holder to comply with requests to stop or reduce pumping if downstream impacts are demonstrated. The board approved the 12‑month extension with the understanding monitoring will continue and that the board will follow up if conditions warrant further action.