Emergency declaration urged in erosion battle

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s recent aerial tour of erosion damage along Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline prompted him to order action by state agencies. Now the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission is urging Holcomb to take the next step: Declare an emergency.

“That’s one thing we thought was critical,” NIRPC Chairman Michael Griffin, Highland’s Clerk-Treasurer, said.

Governors of Illinois and Wisconsin have taken that step already, he added. The governor’s declaration of an emergency would make Indiana’s shoreline area eligible for federal disaster aid. Near-record high lake levels, plus the lack of protective ice along the shore because of this winter’s mild temperatures, have combined to erode shoreline areas, particularly during storms from the north. After viewing the damage from a helicopter on Feb. 16, Holcomb issued an executive order, telling the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Department of Natural Resources to do several things: tell him when damage along the shoreline has met federal criteria to apply for disaster aid; seek other federal funding that might be available; expedite permits allowing property owners to begin repair projects; and launch a web site to share information.

In January, the full NIRPC commission — city, town and county representatives from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties — voted to set up a task force to urge state action. Griffin named representatives of towns and cities along the lakefront to the group. In the ensuing month, its members reviewed and adopted the resolution that was sent to Holcomb on Tuesday, urging state action.

Since then, Lake Michigan continued chewing up the shoreline.

A storm Wednesday night shredded giant sandbags that the town of Beverly Shores, with help from Indiana Dunes National Park workers and equipment, had placed in several critical areas along the shore, Town Council member Geof Benson said.

He said residents were relieved that Lake Front Drive, which runs from one end of the town to the other and contains vital gas lines, had not collapsed. Benson said the town, which so far has spent about $360,000 responding to the erosion, hasn’t seen help from the state.

“It seems each town is being left to its own devices,” he said.

He noted that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security website helps individual property owners input their property damage estimates, but that doesn’t help the town.

“What is the number that triggers an emergency disaster declaration?” Benson wondered. “Is it $1 million, $2 million, $10 million? I don’t have the answers.”

Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.