PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — Operations resumed Wednesday at a steel plant in northwestern Indiana that was temporarily shut down after it leaked wastewater containing elevated levels of iron causing an orange plume in a Lake Michigan tributary.
The U.S. Steel Midwest plant in Portage was back up and running Wednesday, according to The (Northwest Indiana) Times.
U.S. Steel idled the plant about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Chicago as a precaution after it said a wastewater treatment facility experienced “an upset condition” that sent the rusty colored plume into the waterway Sunday.
Indiana Dunes National Park closed all of its beaches and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk until further notice and Indiana American Water shut down its Ogden Dunes treatment facility, both as a precaution.
The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to release more details on the spill Wednesday, U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said.