Kankakee River
Tributary in the United States of AmericaWikipedia
25
MENTIONS
5
EPISODES
5
PODCASTS
Search complete. 25 mentions across 5 episodes found for "Kankakee River".
Oct 21, 2026
Gabe FilippelliHOST
To find out, we're talking with Ryan Miller and Scott Pelath.
Gabe FilippelliHOST
Scott is a certified floodplain manager and became executive director of the Kankakee River Basin Commission in January of 2019.
Gabe FilippelliHOST
He then shepherded the panel's transition into the Kankakee River Basin and Yellow River Basin Development Commission, a panel tasked by the state of Indiana with combating nearly a century of our region's mounting flood risks.
Gabe FilippelliHOST
Ryan serves as deputy director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the DNR.
Gabe FilippelliHOST
Prior to this, he served as a director of the Division of Water from 2017 to 2021.
Ryan MillerGUEST
So that's really just kind of a quick overview of what they do, how they're formed.
Ryan MillerGUEST
But again, the most important part is these watershed development commissions are tackling a common issue.
Ryan MillerGUEST
And Scott will address those probably within the Kankakee and Yellow.
CynthiaGUEST
Now, what they're going to do with this wastewater permit that I was gonna bring up to you is they're going to use the coal plant.
CynthiaGUEST
They're going to put in a gas peaker plant to power the data center, and they're going to use water from the Kankakee River.
CynthiaGUEST
They're gonna pull out 34 million gallons a day for their cooling, and then they're going to dump 22 million gallons a day of wastewater from all of these locations back into the river daily.
CynthiaGUEST
So at this point, and this is what I have here, and I'll show in, there is already arsenic, boron, and I wanna make sure I say this right.
Andrea HuntingtonGUEST
Um, so when I, I talk about that, I think of, you know, especially northern Indiana.
Nate SpangleHOST
Well, 'cause, okay, that's like the Kankakee River area.
Andrea HuntingtonGUEST
It is.
Nate SpangleHOST
Didn't that, didn't this, I think I saw a documentary.
Nate SpangleHOST
Okay, but wasn't it all at one point wetlands that then got-
Andrea HuntingtonGUEST
Yeah, it, it was a half, it was over half a million acres.
Nate SpangleHOST
It was o- so this is like the Kankakee River Valley, right?
Andrea HuntingtonGUEST
Yes.
Azeemuddin AhmedGUEST
I don't know what the exact story was.
Azeemuddin AhmedGUEST
And so this huge, huge, massive ma- not even mansion, it's an estate on the banks of the Kankakee River with its own complete private, like probably quarter mile, half a mile driveway with entire fenced in area of multiple huge acres of land.
Azeemuddin AhmedGUEST
Outdoor squash courts, outdoor swimming pools, outdoor basketball courts, right? And then servants' quarters, guard house, right? Which house do you know in this area is like that? Just think about it.
Azeemuddin AhmedGUEST
All of this went for sale, and the auction, my father went, and I think that it went up for, and he got it, or was gonna get it for two hundred and fifty thousand or three hundred thousand dollars.
Brian MooreHOST
I mean, a f- a few of those design aspects, Jeff, I wanted to ask you about.
Brian MooreHOST
The interior courtyard, the rain garden, the oak savanna concept, the sidewalk shaped like the oxbow of the Kankakee.
Brian MooreHOST
There's a real landscape story here.
Brian MooreHOST
What did that come from, and how did you sell a, a wild landscape to a campus, you know, famous for its manicured quads?