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Maya Permit Violates Federal Civil Rights Law
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD), represented by the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), filed a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance, asserting that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it renewed the permit for Maya Energy to build and operate a waste processing facility near the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Glen Park and across the street from a K-12 school.
Despite longtime opposition by community residents, the city of Gary administration, and the Gary Common Council, the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission(LCRBDC) has disregarded community and environmental group concerns and continues to allow Maya Energy, LLC to pay lease payments on the LCRBDC owned property where Maya proposes to build a garbage processing facility that will bale burnable waste into “so-called” Refuse Derived Fuel. The property is across the street from the Gary Steel City Academy and just east of the artesian well where many Gary residents draw their water. In 2022,
Gary Resident Challenges Maya Lease
In August 2024, Gary Lee, a Gary resident who lives next to the Little Calumet River, filed a lawsuit against the LCRBDC that, among other complaints, challenges the statutory authority of the Commission to lease their property to a garbage producing plant. Mr. Lee is represented by Michael Zoeller of the Conservation Law Center. The suit argues that the lease agreement with Maya does not meet the Indiana statutory requirements that the Commission “(1) promote the general health and welfare of the citizens of Indiana, and (2) provide for the creation, development, maintenance, administration, and operation of park, recreation, marina, flood control and other public works projects, including levees”.
The case will be decided in the Lake Circuit/Superior Court.
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