Groundbreaking ceremony for Calumet Township Septic Tank Elimination Project
Lake County will take 1,200 Calumet Township properties off septic tanks
Contributed By: The 411 News
Doing it for the environment, health and welfare of the community
If residents in Calumet Township sign up now, removal of their septic tanks and a hookup to the Lake County sewer system will be free of charge.
Congressman Frank Mrvan, Jr. and county officials broke ground Friday on the Calumet Township Septic Tank Elimination Project (STEP), set up to service 1,225 homes and businesses with the capacity to add more in the future.
It’s Lake County government’s largest sanitary sewer project yet, covering an area bordered by Ridge Road on the north, Grant Street on the east, Whitcomb and Rutledge Streets on the west, and 52nd Place to the south.
The county is paying for the Calumet Township project and a smaller septic tank removal project in Center Township near Crown Point with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The total cost for the two projects is $90 million dollars.
“This septic to sewer process is going to allow our streams to be cleaner, our water to be cleaner, and it is a great opportunity for the homes here to have healthier water,” said Rep. Mrvan. “We are working together in a collaborative effort to make sure that not only are we doing this for the environment, but we are contributing to the prosperity, health and welfare of this community.”
When septic tanks fail, raw sewage pollutes the ground and groundwaters.
Friday’s ceremony at Rutledge Street and 42nd Court marked the location for the construction of a pump or lift station that will collect and carry Calumet Township wastewater to the Gary Sanitary District for treatment and disposal.
When the lift station and its force main are complete, the target date is June 2025, construction will begin on connecting customers to the sewer lines. This project phase is scheduled for completion in October 2026 when the system goes online.
In August, Calumet Township property owners received letters from Lake County asking for permission to connect their properties to the sewer system.
If they agree, the county will install the connection at no cost to the property owners, Lake County Commissioner Kyle Allen said. “It’s free, if they agree. But if you don’t agree to connect right now, it’ll cost you $15,000 to $20,000 to connect because you have to do it on your own.”
If property owners do not agree to participate by the cutoff date, all costs to connect in the future will be the responsibility of the property owners. The county will not pay for customer connections after the project is complete.
When the project goes online, customers will pay an $85 month usage fee.
For more details and to sign up for the project, visit https://calumetstep.com/
Christian Bartholomew of Burke Costanza and Carberry, LLP, (l-r), Lake County Civil Engineer Duane Alverson, Project Engineer Amy Moore of VS Engineering, Lake County Surveyor Bill Emerson, Jr., Lake County Commissioner Kyle Allen, Congressman Frank Mrvan, Jr., and Lake County Commissioner Mike Repay
Story Posted:09/10/2024
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