The Bloomington City Council is rejecting Mayor Kerry Thomson’s veto of a resolution opposing the Indiana LEAP pipeline project in Lebanon.
The council voted last Wednesday to override her veto on the non-binding resolution. Council member Kate Rosenbarger abstained, and every other member supported it. Council member Matt Flaherty was not present.
The project is managed by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, or IEDC. It seeks to divert 100 million gallons of water daily from the Wabash River into the LEAP Innovation and Research District in Boone County.
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The IEDC hopes to attract large investments to the region, particularly from the tech sector. The pipeline is meant to bring more water to the Lebanon site to support the industrial projects the state wants to place there.
Council member Andy Ruff sponsored the ordinance with Dave Rollo. They worry about the pipeline’s environmental impacts and say it may set a precedent that would allow Monroe County’s lake water to be tapped.
The measure passed in late March with five ‘yes’ votes and four abstentions when the council voted on it in late March.
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Council members Courtney Daily, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, and Hopi Stosberg joined Ruff and Rollo in supporting the ordinance last month. Isak Asare and Sydney Zulich abstained along with Flaherty and Rosenbarger.
Thomson says she opposes the resolution because she worries it could harm the city’s relationship with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
She says she won’t sign any resolution not directly impacting Bloomington, including a recent one calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The council can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
