Introducing...Save Maumee

Save Maumee Grassroots Organization was formed to create awareness about the conditions of the Three Rivers in Fort Wayne, IN, while facilitating ecosystem restoration projects to help the entire Great Lakes Watershed. Ultimately, we are trying to repair and improve the the St. Joe, St. Mary, and Maumee Rivers to help reverse years of pollution.  Revitalizing the St. Joe/Maumee Watershed  will protect and restore the environment, while improving the economic, aesthetic and recreational value. We are organizing projects that place a high priority on monitoring, developing and restoring rivers with a positive environmental impact.

Research has focused most heavily on the Maumee.   

Why we care?

• Reminiscence about The 3 Rivers Festival Raft Race and Johnny Appleseed Park Beach that are no longer appropriate due to pollution.

• I bought beach front property on the Maumee River and it was full of garbage and eroding soil. I wanted to know if our family could swim in the river....everywhere else we have gone in the USA we swim in the rivers!

• I began to research what was wrong with our 3 Rivers in the year 2000.

Things Save Maumee Wants you to know:

Ø A limited liability corporation is trying to put a concrete grinding area (very loud) in the floodplain, (illegal), in the 46803 cancer zone, possibly spraying dust (approximately) to  the new ball diamond.  There is asbestos in the old concrete (causes cancer) and all this is located on the superfund site on the Maumee and permits say this project does not/will not disturb the ground where they work.  This L.L.C. has also moved dirt into this area to put their equipment above flooding area. See Earth Day 2008

Ø Emily Tallo, a 7th grade student tested river water and the results found were not good.... The St. Mary River was terrible; its ammonia levels were lethal to fish near Sweeney Park. It’s nitrate/nitrite totals were above EPA standards. The St. Joe was the cleanest; however its oxygen levels were too low at some points, along with the Maumee, meaning it cannot sustain all types of fish. All three suffered from large amounts of bacteria, lead, and pesticide pollution. Emily’s science fair experiment made regional and won first in environmental sciences category. 

• Ø In 1984 the U.S. Environmental Agency closed the Fort Wayne Reduction   Landfill because it found 91 hazardous chemicals had leaked into the ground and  spilled” into the Maumee River, according to Don Steffeck, a biologist at the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington.

  Ø  The Adams Center Landfill is a Super-Fund Site, found to be one of the most contaminated sites in the USA.  It is/was a 35 acre dump on the South bank of the Maumee, in River Haven. It now belongs to Fort Wayne when it was  annexed/purchased and is now considered remediated. 

  Ø A company nearby the Maumee River was to have leaked toxic chemicals into the ground near homes and a school.  The same 46803 area code that had the highest cancer rates in Fort Wayne.

  Ø   In 1996 dangerous levels of toxic PCB’s have been found in fish taken from 3 out of 4 sites along the Maumee River…in fact that is more than twice the allowed PCB’s for the FDA’s limit of 2 parts per million.

  Ø    PCB’s have been linked to cancer in lab animals and health problems in humans, including birth defects, bone and joint deformities, and liver and skin cancer.  

  Ø       IN Dept. of Environmental Management and Office of Water Management stated in 2000, “ALL of St Joseph River had a severity ranking of high for levels of FCA (fish  consumption advisory) for PCB’s, Mercury & E. coli.”p.65.  THIS is where over 200,000 Fort Wayne families get their drinking water!

  Ø        Indiana Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report, 2004 has bulked our river basin with the Great Lakes Basin, which only looks at the larger scope of our entire watershed.

  Ø              Fort Wayne lists 38 significant industrial contributors that are discharging contaminates to all 3 Rivers LEGALLY…7 of those are for “major” discharges which allows over 1 million gallons of pollution daily dumping into our important water sources.  The entire St. Joe/Maumee Watershed has 249 permits to discharge legally.  Save Maumee wants to continue to watch this number decrease.  This is part of where your increase in City Utilities (your water bill) are going...believe me....it is a GOOD thing!

  Ø       YES - Ron Reinkenberger, Maumee River Basin Commissioner, made sure Southtown Mall project was being held to EPA legal standards of detention ponds for discharges.  Fort Wayne Board of Public Works originally waived these EPA   requirements claiming, “We are more interested in economic development.”  Thank you City of Fort Wayne for changing this!  All standards are now being met!!!!

  Ø                  Local County health departments and other stakeholders have identified        failing septic systems and straight pipe discharge from septic tanks as            significant sources of water pollution in the St. Joseph/Maumee watershed.         Straight pipe discharges  from septic tanks and septic tanks connected to drainage        tiles are illegal(327 IAC 51-1.5); however, these practices still exist in the St. Joseph/Maumee watershed. "Watershed Restoration Action Strategy for the St. Joseph/Maumee Watershed," (p.11)

Ø Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) happened on the average every 2.4 days in 2006...this is where Sewer drains and storm drains are combined and spew sewage into the Maumee and St. Mary. The city is remediating this problem now with the separation of sewers...it is a good thing to see your water bill increase a little! (Expected home increase 5.00$ per bill) It is very expensive to separate sewer systems, but the people downstream depend on that water for drinking! The 44 discharge points are still an issue in Fort Wayne and is now being addressed!

Ø Companies in Indiana have not been accountable for pollution even after the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972!  Senate Bill 620 passed in 2005 and is allowing companies a variance from pollution standards. This bill allows permits for legal dumping in Combined Sewer Overflows until the Senate bill terms in 2010.  This means companies in Indiana have been unaccountable since 1972 when the Clean Water Act was passed!  Theoretically, it is illegal to discharge into rivers.  New legislation is beginning, please write your representatives and tell them you do not approve of past mistakes.  Every small step toward improving water quality is a benefit to all!

       Save Maumee will join forces with Federal, State and Local Officials  in coordination with other active watershed groups to improve our precious renewable resource and begin revitalization. River restoration is a necessity, not a luxury.  U.S. citizens depend on the services that healthy streams and rivers provide. Lets all join together!  Please invest in Natural Capital! 

      Please email  Abigail Frost or call (260) 417-2500 if you have any questions or comments.                      

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• For our online brochure click Save Maumee Brochure