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Community Relations - Fact Sheets

Centralia Environmental Services, Inc. Landfill

Fact Sheet #2
June 2001

Centralia, Illinois

Background

Centralia Environmental Services, Inc. (CESI) Landfill is located in Marion County approximately two miles south of Centralia on Perrine Avenue just south of Webster Creek. The Burlington Northern Railroad borders the west side of the landfill. South and west of the landfill are several residences. Two intermittent streams cross the site. One crosses the northeast section and flows north for about 1500 feet and drains into Webster Creek. The other flows west at the south of the site.

CESI began operations in 1986. The 35-acre site was subdivided into six disposal areas and two borrow areas. The site was permitted for municipal waste and special non-hazardous waste. Areas I, II and III were filled with waste and have a partial soil cover ranging from 0 to 18 inches in depth. Due to site operating deficiencies, the permit to operate Area IV was denied. As a result, an extremely steep excavation face (about 30 to 50 feet high by 500 feet long) remains where the waste already in place was cut back to remove it. Operations at the site stopped in 1989. Although some soil cover was placed on the landfill, it is not certified closed by the Illinois EPA.

The CESI site is one of thirty-three (33) abandoned landfills that no longer accept waste but were never properly closed. During 1998, Illinois EPA identified these orphaned landfill sites as critical environmental problems that need to be addressed. Governor George H. Ryan and Illinois lawmakers responded in spring 1999 by including $50 million in the Illinois FIRST program for addressing problems posed by these abandoned landfills. Two other landfills in the Centralia area - Prior 1,2,3, 4 Landfill and Prior-Blackwell Landfill (west of CESI) will receive similar construction work next year.

What is the scope of the current work to be done at the site?	Bodine Environmental Services, the contractor for the State of Illinois, will install a new, protective clay cap on the landfill disposal area (approximately 15 acres) and stabilize an existing wall of exposed refuse. The work that the State of Illinois has contracted includes: Reshaping the surface grade on the landfill to improve the slopes for proper drainage; Installing a landfill cap consisting of 18 inches of compacted clay and 12 inches of top soil (seeded with various native grasses); Installing four passive gas vents; and Installing a fence around the entire site.
Why is the repair work needed?	Current conditions at the site - insufficient cover material, erosion areas, exposed refuse, and an unstable steep slope - will continue to get worse over time.
What is the make-up of the existing cap?	The current cap material consists of a loose, gravel-type material of varying thickness that is insufficient to support proper vegetation. The addition of the 18" of clay and 12" of topsoil will allow for the shedding of water from the landfill and will promote a good ground cover of native grasses. The additional material will be taken from a "borrow" area on the site.
How will the new cap be protective?	The new cap will contain the waste material and cause rainwater to flow off the landfill rather than into it, thereby minimizing the production of leachate (rainwater that has contacted waste material). Consequently, this is protective to humans who maintain the site and to the environment.
When will the work begin?	The reshaping (moving around existing soils and trash) will begin in August 2001 and will take approximately two weeks. Then begins the process of hauling dirt and compacting it to create the cap. The last step is to apply seed for the ground cover.
How long will the work take?	The construction project should take approximately 125 days (weather permitting). The Illinois EPA contractor expects to be finished with the cap and begin seeding the topsoil by late fall 2001.
Will the general public be able to use the landfill once it has vegetation on it?	Illinois EPA recommends no public uses of the landfill. Activities such as three-wheeling, motorcycle riding and hiking could damage the cap, causing it to erode. Damage by human activity could allow more water to run through the landfill and produce leachate, which could pollute Webster Creek.
How much will the corrective action cost the state?	The total cost of constructing the final cap is estimated to be $1.5 million.

Note:

Public use of this site should be eliminated. Heavy equipment and major construction work scheduled for the site are inherently dangerous. The Illinois EPA is aware of evidence of four-wheeling, motorcycle riding and other types of trespassing that have occurred at the site in the past. There is also evidence of illegal dumping at the site.

For more information, you may contact:

Carol Fuller
Community Relations Coord
Illinois EPA
(217) 524-8807

Ann Cross, Project Manager
Illinois EPA, Bureau of Land, State Sites
Illinois EPA
(217) 524-1654

Maggie Carson, Public Information Officer
Bureau of Land
Illinois EPA
(217) 557-8138

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