How Hazardous Is Landfill 7?

NEWS!

HOW WAS LANDFILL 7 CREATED?

IS CONTAINMENT PROTECTIVE OF HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?

HOW HAZARDOUS IS LANDFILL 7?

WHY IS BLUFF EROSION SUCH A THREAT?

WHAT IS THE CURRENT LEGAL STATUS OF THE CLEANUP?

WHO IS STEVEN POLLACK AND HOW CAN YOU HELP?

FORT SHERIDAN PHOTO GALLERY

o       Landfill 7 is a highly hazardous waste site based on an assessment by US EPA, a study of historic Army records conducted by Argonne National Laboratory, and the Army’s own admission.

§         US EPA Superfund-Caliber – The United States Environmental Protection Agency declares on its website that Landfill 7 is the only Superfund-caliber site at the former Fort Sheridan.  This declaration is based on almost twelve years of US EPA participation in the Fort Sheridan environmental restoration process.  While the US EPA is no longer involved at Fort Sheridan  because the Army stopped funding its participation prior to the final remedy selection process for Landfill 7, US EPA was part of the interim remedy selection process for this landfill.  US EPA reviewed and concurred with the Army’s assessment of need to conduct an interim capping remedy based on the hazardous nature of the waste in Landfill 7, the proximity of the landfill to Lake Michigan, the fact that the landfill was pouring 14,000 gallons of leachate (rain and groundwater that infiltrates the landfill, mixes with the waste, and itself becomes hazardous) into the lake per day, and the uncontrolled release of vinyl chloride into the air..  This declaration is therefore based on first hand knowledge by an agency qualified to make such determinations.  Because Superfund only applies to the nation’s most hazardous waste sites, Landfill 7 almost certainly contains a large quantity of hazardous waste. 

§         Argonne National Laboratory – When Fort Sheridan was closed in 1989 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) was tasked with completing the Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the environmental conditions at the base.  This included a review of historic records and interviews with base personnel. According to ANL, the Army never operated the landfill using what could be considered environmentally sound methods.  The PA concludes that the waste in Landfill 7 contains radioactive materials associated with the Nike anti-aircraft missile program for which the base served as a regional maintenance facility, untreated infectious medical waste, veterinary waste, sewage treatment plant sludge, solvents, paint thinner and paint stripper, waste oil, out of date chemicals and medicines of all types, and pesticides.

§         U.S. Army  - The uncertainty as to the extent of the hazardous nature of Landfill 7 is because the Army refused to conduct invasive testing of the waste.  Instead the Army relied on bald assertions that current landfill engineering technology can contain the waste so characterization is unnecessary.  The Army’s certainty in containment coupled with the lack of complete characterization means that catastrophic containment failure was never considered in the remedy selection process I n the Feasibility Study.  The Army did, however, look into a whole host of imagined dangers for the excavation alternative.  Included in this assessment of the risks inherent in excavation is the possibility that the waste contained in Landfill 7 might be so hazardous that it would trigger landfill restrictions and would require on-site incineration prior to disposal at a permitted RCRA landfill.  The Army, therefore, does not rule out that Landfill 7 might contain the highest characterization of hazardous waste recognized under current environmental laws.  It simply says that this possibility is only a danger under the excavation alternative and does not matter under the containment option.  Can you imagine that waste so toxic that it would require incineration prior to relocation is somehow suitable in a geologically unstable eroding bluff next to the water intake cribs in Lake Michigan that serve 60,000 residents?  I think the fact that the Army is the original polluter, the lead agency is characterizing and selecting the remedies, and is also the financially responsible party has lead to a breakdown in objectivity.  Regardless, the Army has made clear that the waste is likely hazardous, and maybe even land disposal restricted.

If you want to know what you can do, stand up and being counted! Let your legislators know your feelings. You don't have to be a resident of Highland Park or Lake Forest to be concerned about this landfill. Lake Michigan is a critical national fresh water resource.

Send your congressman an e-mail! Send your senator an e-mail!

Send Governor Blagojevich e-mail! Send the president an e-mail!

by Steven Pollack
Concerned Citizen

You can become a part of the good fight by helping cover the cost of advocacy in this matter.  While not tax deductible, 100% of your donation will go towards either litigation expenses or the cost of publicizing this issue.  

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This website launched 5/30/97
Last Updated 03/07/08