[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Article in the News Gazette.

Sun Dec 9 16:23:43 CST 2007

I think no "immediate" health threat and "generally pretty clean" groundwater" are red flags. Why isn't an outside agency (e g the State Surveys a couple of miles south, or ??) doing the testing?? Sounds like the fox is still guarding the hen house.
   --Jenifer
  
Marti Wilkinson <martiwilki at gmail.com> wrote:
    Ameren says area poses no danger; '09 cleanup likely    By Mike Monson   Friday December 7, 2007
  CHAMPAIGN – Ameren and state environmental officials say they do not believe the site of an old coal gasification plant at Fifth and Hill streets poses any immediate health threat to neighbors.
  They also say that Ameren is well into the planning stages for a multimillion-dollar excavation and cleanup of the site, which Ameren expects to take place in 2009.
  "This is not a situation where there is a health risk to the neighborhood," said Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris. "We don't have a situation where there's any immediate health risk."
  That comment was echoed by Stan Black, community relations coordinator for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in Springfield.
  "All the information we have points to the site not being a risk for the neighbors," Black said. "We're waiting for a site investigation report (from Ameren), which we expect to get this month, that will give us much more information." 
  A community meeting to discuss the site and cleanup efforts is planned for noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Douglass Branch Library, 504 E. Grove St., C.
  The north Champaign site where the cleanup will occur once housed a plant that manufactured gas for heating and lighting. The plant made gas by heating coal and causing it to react with steam. It was in operation from 1887 to 1955. 
  The plant produced coal tar as a byproduct, which was left on site. Coal tar contains chemicals known as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzene has also been found on the site, Black said.
  Benzene and some polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are known carcinogens, and have been found in some off-site soil samples at 15 feet below the ground surface, Black said. Those compounds have not been found in groundwater offsite, Black said. 
  In 1997 and 1998, the former owner of the site, Illinois Power, removed the underground structures from the site where coal tar was stored. Ameren became owner of the site when it purchased Illinois Power two years ago. 
  Brian Martin, a consulting environmental scientist for Ameren who formerly worked for Illinois Power, said the 3.5-acre site has seen some migration of soil contamination off the site, which is fenced off, to neighboring properties. That migration is "well below the surface, maybe 20 feet or so," said Martin, who added that Ameren will be doing further investigation of off-site contamination next year. 
  At such a depth, the soil migration doesn't present a health risk, Martin said.
  Groundwater testing wells located around the site "are generally pretty clean," he said. Directly underneath the site, groundwater is contaminated in some areas, he said.
  Martin said that, at the request of site neighbors, two individual investigations have been done. One neighbor was concerned that water infiltrating his basement might be contaminated. Tests done in 2005 showed the water was clean, he said. 
  Another neighbor was concerned whether soil in a vegetable garden was contaminated. Tests also showed that soil was clean, Martin said.
  Any cleanup of the site will involve extensive excavation done under a metal-framed plastic tent that is impermeable and contains a carbon-filtration air handling system to protect the public, Martin and Morris said. 
  "Most of the really gooey stuff is gone," Martin said. "You can still have pockets of the stuff (coal tar). It's not that different from the cleanup of underground gasoline tanks."
  Martin said the north half of the site will undergo an extensive excavation. The exact cleanup plan still has to be devised. In some instances, contaminated soil that is not a health risk can be capped, such as with a clay liner or asphalt. On-site treatment of contaminated soil is also possible, he said. 
  Ameren expects to submit the site investigation report within two weeks to the state EPA. It will report the results of soil borings and groundwater well samples and give a complete description of contamination at the site, according to Black. 
  After that is approved by the state EPA, Ameren will begin work on a remedial objectives report, which will determine the cleanup objectives for pollutants found at or near the site. The level of cleanup in part will be determined by the future use of the site, Black said, with stricter standards required if it will be used residentially in the future, as opposed to commercial or industrial uses. 
  The third report that must be produced is the remedial action plan, which details exactly the cleanup steps that Ameren plans to take and requires state EPA approval, Black said. Once the work is done, Ameren would file a remedial action completion report with the state agency. 
  The state EPA would then issue a "no further remediation" letter for the property, which would permanently be attached to the property deed at the Champaign County recorder's office, Black said. The letter means "the site does not pose a risk to the environment or public health," Black said. 
  Ameren is working with the state EPA through its voluntary site remediation program and has registered 25 Illinois sites for cleanup.
  
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    Find this article at: 
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2007/12/07/sdgsdgsdggsdgsdsdgsdgsdgsdgsdg 
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