Collapsing Sea Wall Threatens Lake Michigan With Contamination

A sea wall along a northwest Indiana canal is collapsing, creating a potential environmental hazard. The deteriorating steel wall along the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal in East Chicago is threatening to allow tainted soil from an abandoned oil refinery to spill into the waterway linked to Lake Michigan. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management says age, freezing and thawing, heavy snow and rain have contributed to the failing sea wall. Since January, the World War Two-era barrier has bowed nearly three feet. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers says it's an emergency situation. And a contract for the emergency work should be granted in the next few days. The harbor and canal are considered the most polluted area in the Great Lakes system.