All beaches at Indiana Dunes shut down due to steel plant discharge

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VIDEO COURTESY ABC NEWS

All beaches at the Indiana Dunes National Park are temporarily closed due to an unknown substance in the Burns Waterway.

A discharge of rusty colored liquid from the US Steel plant in Portage was reported Sunday evening.

An investigation is underway by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The rest of the national park is open.

US Steel released the following statement:

Preliminary sampling results have shown that we remain in compliance with numeric permit limits. Analysis of the water from the outfall taken during the time of the incident showed elevated concentrations of iron causing the discoloration. There are no indications of permit level exceedances for hexavalent and total chromium, as those sampling results came in well below permit limits. The Midwest Plant was shut down as a precaution, and we continue to coordinate with agencies to collect additional samples to monitor the situation. We will provide more updates as they become available.

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