REV. 0 NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN Former Manufactured Gas Plant Hohman Avenue at Wilcox Street Hammond, Indiana February 2006 REV. 0 Northern Indiana Public Service Company COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN Former Manufactured Gas Plant Site Hohman Avenue at Wilcox Street Hammond, Indiana February 2006 1. Overview of the Community Relations Plan The community relations plan outlines the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) strategy for informing the public about an environmental remediation project at a former manufactured gas plant site west of Hohman Avenue on the south bank of the Grand Calumet River. The goal of the project is to restore the site to a condition that is protective of health and the environment and available for productive use, in accordance with the provisions of the Indiana Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP). The project has been assigned VRP project #6980801, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) project manager is Richard Harris (317-234-0966, e-mail:
[email protected].) The community relations program for this site will involve complete and timely communication with government officials, neighboring residents and other interested individuals and organizations. The program is designed to assure individuals there is no immediate threat to their health, explain the results of past studies, solicit and provide responses to concerns and opinions about the site and NIPSCO’s remediation plans. The community relations plan is based on interviews with City of Hammond and state and federal officials, representatives of civic and environmental organizations and NIPSCO staff. Information about the site’s history was obtained from the VRP Remediation Work Plan, 1999.