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MIG/DeWane Landfill
Fact Sheet
January 2006
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Proposed Consent Decree
MIG/DeWane Landfill
Belvidere, Illinois
What is the MIG/DeWane Landfill?
The MIG/DeWane landfill is located in Boone County approximately one-quarter
mile east of the City of Belvidere and one-half mile north of U.S. Business
Route 20.
Between 1969 and 1988, the 47-acre landfill received general refuse and
industrial wastes including paint sludge, volatile organic chemicals,
asbestos and liquids containing heavy metals. The site was not properly
closed and capped, resulting in a 5 to 10-acre depression in the middle
of the landfill. This depression collected water, which drained into
the landfill, resulting in over one hundred leachate seeps.
In 1989 and 1990, the Illinois EPA and U.S Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S EPA), in two separate actions, removed approximately 155,000 gallons
of leachate. * In 1991, parties responding to a U.S. EPA and Illinois
EPA Administrative Order on Consent conducted a number of interim actions
including the installation of an interim cap over the landfill. The landfill
was placed on the National Priorities List (sometimes called the Superfund
List) in 1990.
In April 1999, elevated levels of landfill gas were detected in the soil
and in a few homes in Wycliffe Estates directly west of the landfill.
The parties responding to the 1991 Administrative Order on Consent installed
an active landfill-gas interception system along the western boundary
of the landfill. The system significantly reduced landfill gas within
a month. No landfill gas has been detected in the subdivision during
the past six years.
*Leachate is water that has passed through landfill waste and picked up
contaminants present in the waste.
On January 4, 2006, the State of Illinois lodged a proposed consent decree
in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District in Illinois regarding
the MIG/DeWane Landfill in Belvidere.
What is the content of the consent decree?
Without admitting liability, the defendants have agreed:
- to design and implement the remedy for the landfill that was designated
in the 2000 Record of Decision (ROD), (the accompanying fact sheet summarizes
the ROD),
- to reimburse the state for pasts costs it has incurred at the site,
- to pay the state for future costs including oversight of work conducted
by the defendants and
- to not sue the state for any costs relating to the site.
Who are the defendants listed in the consent decree?
The defendants are BFI Waste Systems of North America, Inc. , five past and
present owners and 88 former customers of the landfill including municipalities
and manufacturers.
May I comment on the proposed consent decree?
Yes. The public may send written comments on the proposed consent decree to
Gerald T. Karr, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Illinois
Attorney General, Environmental Bureau, 188 West Randolph Street, 20th Floor,
Chicago, Illinois 60601. Comments must be postmarked by February 21, 2006
and should refer to The State of Illinois v. BFI Waste Systems of North America,
Inc. , et. al.
Where can I view the proposed consent decree?
The proposed consent decree may be viewed at (1) the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) headquarters in Springfield, Illinois (2)
the Ida Public Library in Belvidere or (3) the Illinois EPA website. The
locations of these sites are listed on the bottom of page two.
What are the next steps?
During 2006, the defendants will conduct a predesign investigation to collect
information needed to design the remedy designated in the 2000 ROD. This
information will include an evaluation of present landfill, leachate, landfill
gas and groundwater conditions. Actual construction of the remedy probably
will not begin until 2007.
Will the pipes and wells in the soil borrow pit area west of the landfill
be removed?
The pipes and wells are an aboveground landfill-gas extraction system. The
main extraction system is buried to the east, closer to the landfill. As
a precautionary measure, the aboveground system will remain in place to ensure
protection against landfill gas moving into the Wycliffe Estates Subdivision.
The 2000 ROD requires that a fence be constructed around the landfill and
the soil borrow pit area.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the consent decree contact
Gerald T. Karr, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Environmental Bureau,
Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 188 West Randolph Street, 20th
Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
For more information about the site contact
Stan Black
Community Relations Coord.
Illinois EPA
1021 N. Grand Ave. E.
Box 19276
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276
Phone: 217-785-1427 |
Rick Lanham
Project Manager
Illinois EPA
1021 N. Grand Ave. E.
Box 19276
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276
Phone: 217-782-9881 |
Repository
The proposed consent decree and other project documents are available at the
project repository located at the Ida Public Library, 320 North State St.
, Belvidere, IL 61008.
Administrative record file
This file contains all the documents that are the basis for Illinois EPA and
U.S. EPA decisions for this project. It is located at the Illinois EPA headquarters
in Springfield, Illinois. Call 217/782-9878 for more information.
2000 Record of Decision
MIG/DeWane Landfill
Belvidere, Illinois
The 2000 Record of Decision (ROD) for the MIG/DeWane Landfill documents the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) and U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) decision on the final remedy for this site.
The agencies made this decision after carefully considering public comments
received during a public comment period held from June 11, 1999 to August
27, 1999. The Illinois EPA signed the ROD on March 30, 2000 and the U.S.
EPA signed a letter of concurrence on March 31, 2000. THE ROD includes the
following requirements:
Landfill gas management
As garbage decays in a landfill, it generates methane gas. The ROD requires
that up to 15 additional passive gas vents be installed within the interior
of the landfill to supplement the existing landfill-gas interception system
installed in 1999. These vents can be upgraded to an active system if necessary.
The active landfill-gas extraction system will be enhanced if necessary.
Landfill Cover/Cap
A multi-component landfill cap and cover system will be constructed and maintained
to meet required landfill standards. The purpose of the cap is to minimize
the infiltration of rain or other precipitation into the landfill, thus reducing
the generation of leachate* and landfill gases and the movement of contaminants
into groundwater, soil and air. The cap will cover the entire landfill. The
landfill vegetative cover will be maintained to the maximum extent possible
before, during and after construction. Unless the Illinois EPA approves alternate
layers, the landfill cover/cap from top to bottom will consist of:
- a vegetative layer of at least six inches over the entire landfill cap,
- a protective 24-inch layer on the crest tapering to a minimum of 18 inches
at the toe of the landfill, (the tapering and reduction in the depth
of the protective layer is due to engineering problems associated with
the closeness of the landfill cap to the property boundaries and physical
barriers such as railroad tracks and buried fiber optic cable),
- a drainage layer of synthetic material,
- a low permeability layer of synthetic material or a combination of synthetic
material and clay, and
- a subsoil/grading layer of at least 12 inches of compacted soil.
* Leachate is water that has passed through landfill waste and picked up contaminants
present in the waste.
Storm Water/ Surface Water Management
A runoff diversion and drainage system will be constructed so that the cap
is not eroded. This system will include a drainage ditch around the toe of
the landfill and a storm water retention pond.
Leachate management
All ponded water and leachate plus a minimum of two feet of sediments will
be removed from the leachate surface impoundment. The liquids will be treated
and disposed of in an approved manner, and the sediment will be disposed
of on-site or in an otherwise approved manner. The empty surface impoundment
will then be filled with clean soil. A leachate collection and management
system will be installed to replace the leachate surface impoundment.
Groundwater treatment
The chosen remedy for groundwater treatment is monitored natural attenuation.
Natural attenuation occurs when any of several natural processes takes place
in the soil or groundwater to reduce the mass, toxicity, mobility, volume
or concentration of contaminants. One example of natural attenuation is when
naturally occurring microbes in the soil or groundwater break down contaminants
into harmless components. Another example is when contaminants become adsorbed
(attached) to soil particles, thus preventing the contaminants from moving
into the groundwater. Natural attenuation was chosen for several reasons
including:
- Between 10 to 25 feet of low-permeability soil exists between the base
of the landfill and the groundwater. The Illinois EPA believes the presence
of this soil is reducing the movement of contaminants from the landfill
into the groundwater.
- Monitoring well sample results support this belief, because only very
low concentrations of contaminants are being detected in monitoring well
samples.
- Surface water and sediment samples from the Kishwaukee River show that,
although groundwater is flowing toward the river, the surface water and
sediments of the river have not been affected by contaminants from the
landfill.
- There are no residential drinking water wells in the path of groundwater
flow.
- The landfill cap and leachate collection system will result in dramatically
reduced groundwater contamination.
- The ROD requires ongoing monitoring to ensure that effective natural
attenuation is occurring.
Institutional controls
A restriction will be placed on the landfill and the adjacent soil borrow
pit area and will be recorded with the Boone County Recorder of Deeds. This
restriction will prohibit the following activities on the landfill and soil
borrow pit area: construction of buildings, on-site groundwater use, drilling,
excavation and any other soil intrusive activities.
Operation and Maintenance
The ROD requires an Operation and Maintenance Plan that will cover all aspects
of the remedial action including the landfill cap, landfill gas monitoring
and groundwater monitoring. The plan must be approved by the Illinois EPA.
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