Beach safety bill approved by Indiana House committee

Dave Benjamin knows that putting in water-rescue equipment along the 46 miles of Northwest Indiana’s lakeshore will be expensive, but relative to the money spent on making the lakeshore what it’s become, it’s a drop in the bucket.

The Indiana Senate Natural Resources Committee agreed and passed 8-0 on Monday Senate Bill 424, a bill requiring water rescue equipment to be available along Lake Michigan’s shoreline. It was passed with amendments clarifying what a “drop-off ” is for the bill’s purposes.

Benjamin, co-founder and executive director of Great Lakes Surf Rescue, said that adding the equipment to the lakeshore would cost the state an estimated $104,000, which is admittedly expensive. But it isn’t more expensive than the money municipalities have spent on fixing up their shorelines, he said.

“Whiting spent $42 million on its lakeshore, and Gary has spent $28 million,” Benjamin told the committee. “Portage also spent $28 million, Michigan City has spent $3 million and Chesterton, where the Indiana Dunes is, has spent $5 million. That’s $100 million in the last 12 years.”

The cost to find someone who’s missing after drowning, furthermore, often ends up being more expensive per search as it would be to install the equipment, he added. Sending up a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter during a search costs taxpayers $21,000 per day, and a Coast Guard boat cost $5,000 per day, he said.

“Not counting the local response (which requires other departments to cover the responding department), the unseen tax burden is astronomical,” Benjamin said. “$100,000 to give added protection is a small cost.”

Authored by state Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton; and Sen. Michael Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, Senate Bill 424 calls for public and privateowned piers and beach drop-offs to be outfitted with at least one ring life buoy. The bill defined a “drop-off” as a shoreline area intended for direct public access to the water.

At least a 100-foot line should be attached to each ring. Signage on how to use the equipment is also required under the bill.

Government entities with piers or drop-off access will be required to purchase the equipment and compile a report at least twice a year that details any drowning within 100-feet of a pier or a drop-off. If more than one drowning occurs over a five-year period, a water safety plan must be created and public safety equipment must be upgraded. An upgrade, for example, would be the installation of equipment that automatically contacts the local 911 service.

Locally, the legislation would impact cities and towns including Whiting, East Chicago, Hammond, Gary, Portage, and Michigan City.

Benjamin said in previous testimony that any liability claims would have to be based on gross negligence on the part of a municipality. He said rescue equipment should be examined regularly by park maintenance workers, like other equipment. He likened it to having defibrillators installed in public buildings that contain information on how they should be used.

He said Michigan City already has 11 safety stations on its pier, but Portage and Whiting don’t have any.

The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project worked on the Illinois legislation and is also working with lawmakers in Wisconsin and Michigan, Benjamin said.

Caitlin Smith, legislative director for the state Department of Natural Resources, told the Senate panel it has a neutral position on the bill. She said the DNR supports the underlying intent of making the shoreline safer. The state owns Indiana Dunes State Park along Lake Michigan, which draws more visitors than any other state park. It already has rescue equipment in place.

For at least five years, a non-profit Miller group has maintained 22 safety equipment stations along Gary’s beaches.

Mary Ann Best said the Miller Citizens Corp.’s beach water safety committee and the Friends of Marquette Park raised the money for the 22 safety stations at Lake Street and Marquette Park beaches and at the Marquette Park Lagoon.

That equipment includes a sign that explains how to use the safety ring, a 50-foot floatable rope tied to the ring and a life jacket for the rescuer.

She said the equipment was used last year to save a man who nearly drowned. In all, she said the equipment has been used three times.

Benjamin said of more than 100 Great Lakes drownings last year, nearly half were on Lake Michigan. Northwest Indiana had seven drownings last year.

SB 424 will now move to the Senate floor — where it might be amended again — and then a final vote before moving to House.