St. Joseph County board approves HRP dewatering discharge for Amazon site despite public concern about aquifer

The St. Joseph County Drainage Board unanimously approved a dewatering discharge application from HRP Construction on a contract for an Amazon facility in New Carlisle. Jared Baker, project representative for HRP Construction, told the board the project requires construction of a 500,000-gallon in-ground attenuation tank and a temporary dewatering system consisting of about 12 pumps and 55-foot deep temporary wells to lower groundwater for cast-in-place construction.

Board members and contractors discussed operational details, including routing discharge to the nearby Nesbajani (transcript also shows variant spellings such as ‘Nesbocyanne’) Ditch and use of fused, heavy-wall HDPE pipe to reduce joint failures. Baker said the dewatering schedule is about 151 days under the current plan.

Resident Steve Francis urged the board to allow public testimony on agenda items and raised concerns that pumping the aquifer to supply a 500,000-gallon holding tank could threaten wellhead protection areas and downstream users. "I never knew about a 500,000 gallon tank that they needed to build there," Francis said, adding he worried about industrial discharges and groundwater impacts.

Jared Huss of Lawson Fisher Associates, who has worked on inspection and modeling for ditch projects, clarified that a prior contractor’s temporary dewatering pipe became disconnected but was a temporary on-site connection and impacts were contained and graded within days. Huss told the board that monthly and biweekly coordination with inspectors is routine and that the HRP plan uses heavier, fully fused pipe that reduces the risk of joint failures.

S5, the county attorney (unnamed in the transcript), and other staff answered legal and procedural questions. After discussion S2 moved to approve the HRP discharge application; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.

The board recorded several conditions and follow-ups in discussion: board members reiterated that a previously discussed ranch subdivision easement would not be finalized until a signed easement agreement between property owners is submitted; staff said they will seek signatures and return it to the board. The board did not attach additional mitigation conditions to the HRP discharge in the public transcript.

Next steps noted at the meeting include contractor coordination with county inspectors during the dewatering and continued stakeholder engagement on the Nesbajani ditch study, which staff and consultants said will inform longer-term drainage work for the area.