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Resident raises concerns over Amazon dewatering permit; county staff say 24M-gallon figure refers to water-treatment cap
Summary
A resident urged clarification after a drainage-board dewatering permit for the Amazon southern site was approved; the county's economic development director said the 24,000,000-gallon figure cited by residents is a cap on produced water from two water treatment plants under a 2024 water service agreement and not a limit on dewatering.
Steve Francis, a resident of Juday Lake Drive in Clay Township, told commissioners he was concerned about a drainage-board dewatering permit for the southern Amazon site and said the permit would allow pumping at about 31,200,000 gallons per day. Francis said such a rate could exceed previously discussed county commitments, affect downstream farmers and wetlands, and sought clarification whether the county commitment was formalized in contract language.
Bill Shalio, the county's economic development director, responded that the 24,000,000-gallon figure residents referenced is the maximum daily production capacity from two potable water treatment plants under a water service agreement approved in 2024 with the town of New Carlisle; that agreement was reaffirmed as part of a recent IURC ruling establishing a water service area. Shalio said the 24,000,000-gallon figure does not refer to dewatering or private well use. He explained that the drainage board's dewatering permit number was based on an engineering model, that Amazon had reduced its modeled number from about 35 million to about 32 million gallons per day during review, and that monitoring (meters, piezometers, photos) is used to track pumping.
Shalio noted prior dewatering work near Edison Road had impacted shallow wells in some cases, but said DNR monitoring and follow-up actions (new wells or equipment) addressed those incidents. He offered to share the publicly available water service agreement and supporting documents with residents and said the modeled dewatering number 'will likely never be hit' in normal operations. Commissioners and staff agreed to continue outreach and to provide documentation to concerned residents.
Shalio's explanation distinguished a contractual water-production cap for treatment plants from an engineering-modeled dewatering permit; commissioners asked staff to improve public communication and make documents available to residents who raised concerns.
