A strange seepage with a sulfurous smell that oozed from the pavement and closed a portion of Ind. 49 late Tuesday afternoon was identified as slag by officials on Wednesday, who expected the road to reopen late Wednesday after the green substance was vacuumed up. They said remediation will require lifting a section of freshly laid asphalt to remove the slag.
Officials said the substance isn’t a long-term hazard, but two people, Porter Fire Chief Lewis Craig Sr. and a Porter police officer, were taken to Porter Regional Hospital and released after they complained of breathing problems.
Porter County Hazmat Director Greg Eckhardt said the seepage varies in color from light to dark green and dries into a powder. It began percolating out of the Ind. 49 pavement near Bailly Road on Tuesday afternoon.
Slag, a byproduct of area steel mills, was used as an underlying base for the road years ago because of its strength, he added.
“For some reason (Tuesday) afternoon it decided to compress and come out of the ground,” Eckhardt said, adding a Porter police officer came across the liquid. “It was actually percolating out.”
All of the recent rain may have caused the slag to start coming out of the pavement, he said, adding the substance’s smell could aggravate respiratory problems. Officials checked in with homeowners on the east side of Ind. 49 and none of them reported any discomfort.
“They’re going to have to rip that road up and remove that slag,” he said, adding tests are being conducted on the substance to determine why it has a phosphorescent look to it. “By all indications, it was pretty benign.”
The Indiana Department of Transportation started a paving project on Ind. 49 from its interchange with U.S. 12 to the Indiana Toll Road interchange in late April.
The project, originally scheduled for completion in mid-August, had already been pushed back into September but “there’s nothing to suggest (dealing with the seepage) will affect the project,” said INDOT spokesman Doug Moats.
“As a preventative, in about a week or so, we will probably dig into that area and get it all out,” Moats added, noting the seepage was not caused by the current work on Ind. 49.
The recently opened Dunes-Kankakee Trail, which runs from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center to Indiana Dunes State Park along Ind. 49, will remain closed as a precaution until crews dig up the roadway and ensure all of the substance is removed, Moats said.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
