Location Taken: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana
Time Taken: October 2006
It’s easy to forget Indiana has a coastline, complete with fine beaches. But it does, and it’s even part of the national park system, though at the National Lakeshore level, one of the more minor ones.
Lots of people come visit for the sand, surf, and sun, as well of the lovely views. Look one way and you can see the skyline of Chicago right at the edge of the horizon.
Look the other way, and you can see… A power plant?
I’m not sure what type it is. It obviously involves something that has to be cooled, since that’s a fine cooling tower venting steam there. And, oddly enough, that smaller smokestack and its building look very similar to the coal power plant in the Sim City games I used to play…
*checks the internets*
Yup, that’s the Michigan City Generating Station, and it runs off of coal and natural gas. Amazing what video games can teach you.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore has the slight problem that its fabulous beaches are surrounded by the aging remnants of what used to be a major industrial region. This used to be right next to the heart of the steel industry back in the 60’s. It’s still heavily focused on industry, and not the clean kind. There’s factories all over, and well, those (and the people who work in those) need power.
Hence the power plant. And putting power plants by coastlines is pretty common, it seems. Probably for easy access to water and the like.
Still, it’s tough to fully enjoy the wonders of nature when there’s a reminder of some of the least nature-friendly aspects of mankind just right over there. Especially since that cooling tower shape has become one of the symbols of nuclear power, despite it being perfectly suitable for other forms of power plant…
