TOPIC:

My buddy was going up the ditch this morning in his kayak and saw a bunch of dead fish floating. Bluegill, bass, catfish, etc. Fish were bloated & white. Looks like they have been dead a day or two. Also saw some blue/green algae. Is this normal or did something happen?

Could be normal, might not be


It is often hard to figure out fish kills several days after the fact, since whatever caused the kill may not be present anymore, fish have degraded considerably making any labwork problematic , and also may have been transported some distance away from the cause of a kill.

DNR CO's and IDEM are currently investigating the potential fish kill - sounds like it was reported by a couple different people.

I saw this last night bass fishing. Saw several walleye along with big kittys and all the other gamefish. Definitely not on the west branch, went all the way to the Portage water treatment plant discharge and no dead fish.
Shame too, looked like a good size fish.

Was just told it was ANOTHER CHEMICAL SPILL !!!??? Any truth to this?

Sounds possible - not yet clear though.

WTF....Unreal!

Yes, preliminary investigation by IDEM and DNR Law Enforcement, along with Arcelor Mittal, suggests that there were higher than normal amount of ammonia and also cyanide in the east branch of the Little Cal and/or the graywater dicharge/Outfall 001 as it is referred to.

Investigation of it is ongoing

chicago.suntimes.com/2019/8/15/20807912/...GJ-PljZkA9dKyAyxEafk

MC_angler wrote:

Yes, preliminary investigation by IDEM and DNR Law Enforcement, along with Arcelor Mittal, suggests that there were higher than normal amount of ammonia and also cyanide in the east branch of the Little Cal and/or the graywater dicharge/Outfall 001 as it is referred to.

Investigation of it is ongoing

chicago.suntimes.com/2019/8/15/20807912/...GJ-PljZkA9dKyAyxEafk

Hey Ben - where exactly is Outfall 001 located?

Are we ok to be in the area? What could this type spill do for us being so close to the water? Is it on the shoreline? What’s next?

where exactly is Outfall 001 located?
Just taking a guess but believe this is the section of ditch that comes from the north under Rt. 12 in Burns Harbor near the trailer court. It runs all the way south into the east branch