Ripe's video: Dangerous amount of Cyanide Kills 3 000 Fish Shuts Down Public Beaches

Last week, the National Park Service reopened two beach areas inside the Indiana Dunes National Park to swimmers after a massive chemical spill that killed an estimated 3,000 fish. The Dunes sit on the shore of Lake Michigan and were only declared a National Park this February. The Luxembourg-based company ArcelorMittal has claimed responsibility for the spill, which dumped dangerous amounts of cyanide and ammonia-nitrogen into the Little Calumet River earlier this month. The steelmaker legally discharges cyanide into the river on a routine basis, having dumped more than 61,000 pounds during 2017. In a statement, the firm admitted that a failure at its blast furnace resulted in a much larger discharge than the law allows. The company claims that it “promptly reported” the problem to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and that the problem has been fixed. But John Cannon, the mayor of the nearby city of Portage, accused IDEM of not warning him about the danger for three days after they’d learned of the spill. “The biggest concern I had was that the city was not aware of any kind of difficulty in our waterway until Thursday when thousands of dead fish show up in our marina,” Cannon told TIME. Despite the warnings to swimmers and boaters, there appear to have been no detrimental effects on the safety of drinking water in the region. Mayor Cannon also claimed that anyone who eats a fish that was contaminated would be in no danger from it. Ripe is one of the first US media production company dedicated to telling plant-based, vegan, and environmental stories. ​ ​We only produce original digital video content including TV series, documentaries, breaking & current news, and exclusive interviews with industry leaders. ​ It is our promise to provide you with informative, entertaining, and well produced content on all things plant-based, vegan and environmental. You can watch our shows, news, interviews, and documentaries directly on our website, Facebook and YouTube channel. We are 100% independently funded out of pocket with no big backers, angel investors, or secret sponsorship fees... ​With warm regards, The Ripe Team SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.youtube.com/ripewatch CHECK US OUT: Ripewatch.com FOLLOW RIPE: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ripewatch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ripewatch Twitter: https://twitter.com/ripewatch