Calumet River refers to a system of heavily
industrialized rivers and canals in the region
between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.
The name "Calumet" refers to the calumet
an elaborate pipe that served as a universal sign of peace among
, and which was presented to
The area is extremely flat and the course and even the direction of
the river system has changed repeatedly. The low gradient gives the
river only a very small current. Before human alteration, water flowed
westward from LaPorte County,
Indiana along the Little Calumet River, made a complete turn,
and flowed east along the Grand Calumet into Lake Michigan at the Miller section of Gary, Indiana.
Industrial development in the Calumet River area began around the
1870s, and by 1890 the West reach of the Grand Calumet River was
heavily polluted with the waste of steel
, a meat packing
plant, and glue and cornstarch
factories. Industry continued to spread along the East reach of the
river between 1890 and 1910, with similar results. These decades of
unrestricted pollution have left the river sediments highly
contaminated to this day.
September 2008, areas of Lake and Porter County, Indiana, were declared national disaster
areas. The Calumet River breached its levee and flooded portions of the towns of Munster and Highland, Indiana.
Segments of the Calumet River system
Map of area rivers
Calumet River, on the south side of Chicago, originally
simply drained Lake
Calumet to Lake Michigan.
A canal extending it,
legendarily claimed to have been created by voyageurs at the site
of a frequent portage, was dug connecting the two Calumet Rivers at
the point where the name now changes from Grand to Little.
Grand Calumet River
Calumet River, originating in the east end of Gary, Indiana, flows 13 miles (21 km) through the cities of
Chicago and Hammond.
majority of the river's flow drains into Lake Michigan via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, sending about per second (44 m³/s) of water into
Today, a large portion of the river's flow
originates as municipal and industrial effluent
, cooling and process water and storm water
overflows. Although discharges have been reduced, a number of
contaminants continue to impair the area.
Little Calumet River
Calumet River flows through or borders the towns of Blue
Island, Dixmoor, Phoenix, Riverdale, Harvey, Calumet
City, Lansing, Dolton, South
Holland in Illinois and Hammond, Munster, Griffith, Highland, Gary, Lake
Station, Portage, Burns
Harbor, Porter, and
Chesterton in Indiana.
The Little Calumet flows into
the Calumet River and Cal-Sag Canal. The Little Calumet has of
river and tributaries and drains .
The Little Calumet River has been undergoing construction of a $200
million flood control and recreation project by the Chicago
District of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
since 1990. The project is expected to be complete in 2010. The
project includes construction of of levees
, a control structure at
Hart Ditch, and almost of hiking trails. Additionally, seven miles
(11 km) of the river channel is being relocated to allow
better water flow, and highway bridges are being modified to permit
unobstructed flow of water. A flood warning system is also being
implemented. When complete, the project will protect over 9,500
homes and businesses in the towns of Gary, Griffith, Hammond, and
Munster in Indiana, and prevent nearly $11 million in flood damage
annually. On Septermber 15, 2008, the remnants of Hurricane Ike
released heavy rain which
flooded the banks of the Little Calumet River. Houses and strip
malls in northern Munster and southern Hammond were evacuated.
Hundreds of homes were damaged due to flooding. Recently, a new
levee, along Northcote Ave in Munster, is being built to protect
residents from future floods.
Cal-Sag Channel (short for "Calumet-Saganashkee Channel") is a
navigation canal in southern Cook
It serves as a channel between the Little Calumet River
and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship
. It is 16 miles (26 km) long and was dug over an
11-year period, from 1911 until 1922.
Cal-Sag Channel serves barge traffic in what was an active zone of
heavy industry in the far southern
neighborhoods of the city of Chicago, Illinois and adjacent suburbs.
As of 2006 it is also
used more as a conduit for wastewater from southern Cook County,
including the Chicago-area Deep
, into the Illinois
. It is also used by pleasure crafts in the summer
The western 4.5 miles (7.3 km) of the channel flow through the
Palos Hills Forest Preserves, a large area of parkland operated by
Cook County Forest
The Cal-Sag Channel served as the rowing
venue for the 1959 Pan American Games
Pollution in the Grand Calumet
Suffering from over a century of environmental neglect, The Grand
Calumet River is highly polluted. Historically, the Grand Calumet
River supported highly diverse, globally unique fish and wildlife
communities. Today, remnants of this diversity are found in the
Gibson Woods and Pine nature preserves. These areas contain tracks
topography and associated rare plant and animals species, such as
, Blanding's turtle
the glass lizard
and the Black-crowned Night Heron
others. The problems mentioned above, however, have greatly
impaired the river. It has been listed as one of the 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern
(AoC) since 1986. AoC's are designated by having an impairment in
at least one of fourteen beneficial
. The Grand Calumet is the only AoC to be impaired on all
fourteen. These impairments include total fish consumption
restrictions, beach closings, fish tumors
deformities, animal deformities or reproductive problems, and loss
or degradation of fish and wildlife habitat, benthos
The largest extent of the river's impairment comes from the
historical sediment contamination by the industrial activities
already mentioned. Today, sediments on the river bottom are "among
the most contaminated and toxic that have ever been reported." Only
inhabit the Indiana Harbor
and Ship Canal, indicating that severe pollution exists. The Grand
Calumet suffers from contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls
), polynuclear aromatic
and heavy metals
, such as mercury
Additional problems include high fecal coliform bacteria
biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD) and suspended solids, oil and grease. These contaminants
originate from both point and nonpoint
- Contaminated sediment: The Grand Calumet River and Indiana
Harbor and Canal contain 5 to 10 million cubic yards (3.9 to 7.7
million m³) of contaminated sediment up to 20 feet (6 m) deep.
Contaminants include toxic compounds (e.g., PAHs, PCBs and heavy
metals) and conventional pollutants (e.g., phosphorus, nitrogen,
iron, magnesium, volatile solids, oil and grease).
- Industrial waste site runoff: Stormwater runoff and leachate
from 11 of 38 waste disposal and storage sites in the AoC, located
within 0.2 miles (300 m) of the river, are degrading the water
quality. Contaminants include oil, heavy metals, arsenic, PCBs,
PAHs and lead.
- CERCLA Sites: There are 52 sites in the
AoC listed in the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response
Compensation and Liability System (CERCLA). Five of these sites are
Superfund sites on the National Priorities
- Hazardous waste sites under RCRA: There are
423 hazardous waste sites in the AoC regulated under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), such as landfills or surface
impoundments, where hazardous waste is disposed. Twenty-two of
these sites are treatment, storage and disposal facilities.
- Underground storage tanks (USTs): There are more than 460
underground storage tanks in the AoC. More than 150 leaking tank
reports have been filed for the Lake County section of the AoC
- Atmospheric deposition: Atmospheric deposition of toxic
substances from fossil fuel burning, waste incineration and
evaporation enter the AoC through direct contact with water,
surface water runoff and leaching of accumulated materials
deposited on land. Toxins from this source include dioxins, PCBs,
insecticides and heavy metals.
- Urban runoff: Rain water passing
over paved urban areas washes grease, oil and toxic organics such
as PCBs and PAHs into the surface waters.
- Contaminated groundwater:
Groundwater contaminated with organic compounds, heavy metals and
petroleum products contaminates surface waters. The U.S.
Protection Agency estimates that at least 16.8 million US
gallons (64,000 m³) of oil float on top of groundwater beneath the
Point sources of contaminants
- Industrial and Municipal Wastewater Discharges: Three steel
manufacturers contribute 90 percent of industrial point source discharges to river.
One chemical manufacturer also discharges into the river. Permitted
discharges include arsenic, cadmium,
chromium, lead and mercury. Three municipal treatment works (Gary,
Hammond and East Chicago Sanitary Districts) discharge treated
domestic and industrial wastewater.
- Combined Sewer Overflows
(CSOs): Fifteen CSOs contribute untreated municipal waste,
including conventional and toxic pollutants, to the river.
Annually, CSO outfalls discharge an estimated 11 billion US gallons
(42,000,000 m³) of raw wastewater into the harbor and river.
Approximately 57% of the annual CSO volume is discharged within
eight miles (13 km) of Lake Michigan, resulting in nearshore
fecal coliform contamination.
- Project Management Plan
- Our Community & Flooding - Federal
- USACE Chicago Dist - Little Calumet River
- SpringerLink - Journal Article