Swimming was banned at Indiana Dunes State Park after a silvery substance was found floating on the water. <\/p>\n
8:00 p.m. CDT, June 18, 2013 <\/p>\n
The U.S. Coast Guard and Indiana environmental officials continued Tuesday to investigate the origins of a silvery substance that was found in southern Lake Michigan, causing some beaches to clear bathers from the water. <\/p>\n
Swimmers along Porter Beach at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore came out of the water Monday afternoon with an \"oily substance\" on their bodies and saw a silver sheen in the lake, according to the Coast Guard and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. <\/p>\n
Preliminary tests indicate the substance included D-gluconic acid, a mild acid used to clean metals, and tricalcium orthophosphate, an additive found in food and fertilizers, said Dan Goldblatt, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Management. <\/p>\n
\"Initial reports make it look like it's not something that's highly toxic,\" Goldblatt said. \"Once we know more we can make a better determination.\" <\/p>\n
A current carried the sheen several miles toward Michigan City, Ind., but investigators found nothing except pollen in the water when they arrived Monday. <\/p>\n
The Coast Guard's safety marine unit in Chicago has viewed a week's worth of video showing vessels in the Port of Indiana, but have not seen anything spilling from the ships, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Yaw. <\/p>\n
The unit also talked to officials at a steel and mining company along the lakefront but determined it did not cause the sheen because only iron-ore based products have left the site, Yaw said. <\/p>\n
Monday night's rains and natural breakdown dissipated the sheen from the water. Those who came in contact with the substance reported no ill health effects, Indiana environmental officials said. <\/p>\n
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Officials identify silvery substance at Indiana beaches<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Swimming was banned at Indiana Dunes State Park after a silvery substance was found floating on the water. Continue reading