Michigan City news Dispatch

Non-profit group upset scientists still not paid

Disagreement involves PINES, utility, contractor

Alicia Ebaugh

Staff Writer

Monday, December 21, 2009

Editor's note - This is the last in a series of articles on the Pines groundwater pollution issue.

PINES - Scientists on behalf of Pines residents who examined groundwater pollution caused by coal ash in the town are still owed more than $86,000 for their work, but the companies who would be responsible for the bill say they won't pay it.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co., Brown Inc. and its subsidiaries who are paying for the investigation into the pollution at the Pines' Superfund Alternative site say the work was done outside of the agreement it signed with People in Need of Environmental Safety, a resident group formed to track the groundwater issue.

The agreement, called a Technical Assistance Plan, was meant to provide money for PINES to hire scientists who could interpret reports for them, said Tim Drexler, Environmental Protection Agency project manager for the site.

"The EPA has a similar process for its Superfund sites, where it pays the funds," he said. "It's so the community can be involved in the process."

It was the first agreement of its kind in the region, if not the country, to have potentially responsible parties directly pay community groups' consultants, Drexler said. Superfund Alternative sites - paid for by the people or companies who created the pollution to be cleaned up - are a relatively new concept themselves, he said.

"At the time the TAP was generated, there was no guidance, no model for development," Drexler said. "Unfortunately, that uncertainty has resulted in this issue."

The original terms of the agreement allowed for the group's consultants, Denver-based Geo-Hydro Inc., to be paid up to $50,000 for their work. That money was exhausted in July 2008, but Geo-Hydro scientist Charles Norris kept working on the issue with the full knowledge of the EPA, said Paul Kysel, PINES vice president.

"The EPA knew the exact moment we exhausted our funds; that moment was months ago," Kysel said. "They were in frequent contact with Geo-Hydro asking for their opinions and work, using their expertise after the clock ran out."

An amendment was written for the agreement this spring that would provide another $50,000, but it was not signed by PINES until May. By that time, most of Geo-Hydro's work was already done. The unpaid portion of their bill amounts to $86,409.90, Kysel said.

"They are honest-to-goodness, altruistic guys who have stood by us. They have done phenomenally good work and should be compensated for that," he said. "Their work was done under the understanding there was no money left and with the promise things would be worked out."

NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said because this work was done while the agreement was technically expired, the companies have no obligation to pay for it.

"It's important to provide funds for a community group to have their opinions heard and be involved. I think we all have the same goal in mind. But there was a process set in place for those funds and that process wasn't followed," he said. "It would have been smoother had they waited to spend the money."

The deadlines were such, Kysel said, that waiting was impossible. The work had to be done then for the process to keep going.

"The folks at NIPSCO and Brown have accused us of playing a game with this," he said. "Well, it is a game, a stupid game we're being forced to play and we're not even holding the cards."

The non-profit PINES certainly doesn't have that kind of money, Kysel said. Also, NIPSCO and Brown Inc. fully reimburse the National Park Service and Indiana Department of Environmental Management for all their work on the project.

"What is it about our group that makes us different?" Kysel asked.

As of the end of 2008, NIPSCO and Brown paid out more than $3 million to AECOM and other agencies for the work that has gone into the investigation so far, including water and soil sampling and the production of reports, Drexler said.

Meyer said the companies would not confirm that amount.

"That amount of money makes ours seem insignificant," Kysel said.

Norris said he is hopeful the issue will be resolved soon.

"Not getting paid is not a business model we can follow very much and stay in business, but we have the luxury of being flexible with these issues," he said. "We'll let all of these processes work their way through. We have talked with the PINES group about starting chili suppers and bake sales, but if they have to advertise 40 of those to make $2,000 each, I don't think that's the kind of publicity NIPSCO would want."

Now, PINES is even having trouble getting NIPSCO and Brown Inc. to release the second round of funding for the upcoming human health and environmental risk assessments because its non-profit status lapsed with the state, Kysel said. That paperwork should be completed within two months, he said, but time is of the essence.

"They will need time to review the risk assessments before comments are due," he said. "I just feel like (NIPSCO and Brown) don't want us involved, and they'll find any way to make that happen."

Kysel thinks NIPSCO and Brown are only stalling because all money given to a recognized non-profit is tax-deductible. But Meyer said NIPSCO and Brown Inc. are simply following the rules of the agreement. They are leaving it up to the EPA to make a determination on the money that is already owed, Meyer said.

"We'll continue to do as directed by the EPA, and if that's their direction, we'll follow it," he said.