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Community Relations - Fact Sheets

Tarkowski Property, Wauconda

Fact Sheet #1
December 2006

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Unincorporated Lake County near the Village of Wauconda

Background

The John Tarkowski property is 16 acres in unincorporated Lake County near the Village of Wauconda (map attached). Public records show that Mr. Tarkowski has been illegally receiving waste material at his property since the late 1960s, and Lake County as well as the State of Illinois and U.S. EPA have pursued legal actions against Mr. Tarkowski since that time. Although the judgment of more than one court determined that Mr. Tarkowski should remove various waste materials and adhere to deed restrictions, zoning ordinances and state laws regulating permitting of landfills, the problem persisted. Extensive litigation by the local, state and federal authorities has taken place relative to this site.

Two years ago, in 2004, Illinois EPA reviewed unresolved investigation files to determine whether further investigation or action was necessary at certain sites. Inspections of Mr. Tarkowski’s property revealed ongoing open dumping and an unpermitted landfill and salvage yard, among other violations of the Environmental Protection Act.

Illinois EPA performed surveillance to confirm that Mr. Tarkowski was indeed allowing trucks hauling various waste materials to dump on his property. Illinois EPA issued a violation notice (of the Environmental Protection Act) for open dumping. Later, the Agency issued a letter stating its “intent to pursue legal action” to Mr. Tarkowski. There have been a series of court hearings about the matter at which Mr. Tarkowski did not appear. The State has prevailed at all the hearings, and due process has been followed in all aspects of the legal matter. A court order was issued in April 2006 that requires John Tarkowski to pay a $150,000 penalty and conduct a systematic cleanup of the property.

Because Mr. Tarkowski disobeyed the court order and continued to allow dumping on the property, on July 7, 2006, the Illinois EPA issued an Order to Seal the site to protect the public and the environment. Mr. Tarkowski removed the sign for the seal order within a few days and removed it again when the Agency replaced it. Illinois EPA worked with the Lake County Sheriff’s Dept., and Mr. Tarkowski was arrested for violating the seal order. Criminal charges are now pending against Mr. Tarkowski for violating the seal order.

What types of materials exist at this site?	Examples of the types of hazardous and other waste that Illinois EPA found at the site include: used tires, drums (large and small) and open containers of liquid wastes, scrap lead acid car batteries, pressure cylinders (for nitrogen, oxygen, Freon and propane), metal salvage, wooden pallets, landscape waste, and construction and demolition debris.
What activities are currently happening at the site?	Illinois EPA performed inspections of the site monthly following the court order to see whether or not Mr. Tarkowski was complying with the terms of the order. Mr. Tarkowski did not clean up any of the waste by the deadline of 180 days. In fact, more waste was received at the property during that time. Due to the risk for West Nile Virus spreading by mosquitoes living in the thousands of tires on site, Illinois EPA sought permission from the court to remove this hazard. Phase I of the current cleanup actions began with spraying the site to kill mosquitoes and removing the waste tires in August 2006. Illinois EPA’s contractor removed over 10,000 tires from the site. There are perhaps another 2000 tires to remove that are partly buried or hidden behind liquid waste containers and overgrown vegetation.
What work is being done in Phase II?	Using funds acquired through a supplemental environmental project (SEP) - a SEP is an environmentally beneficial project that a company may agree to fund when settling an enforcement action - Illinois EPA tasked a contractor to remove potentially hazardous and other wastes from the Tarkowski property. During the first week of the Phase II work in November, the contractor removed from the site: 10,000 pounds of various special and hazardous waste 21,000 pounds of bulk liquid waste oils and fuels 2400 pounds of car batteries More than 100 pressurized cylinders
When will Phase II be complete?	Recent bad weather temporarily halted the work at the site. However, we expect that this phase will be completed by the end of December 2006, including removal of: 45 – 55 gallon drums of liquid waste 25 – 30 gallon drums of liquid waste 40,000 pounds of bulk liquid waste 2000 pounds of special and hazardous waste material
What items still remain on the site?	Still remaining after the Phase II work will be: 2000 waste tires Thousands of wooden pallets in rotting condition Hundreds of loads of construction and demolition debris Hundreds of loads of landscape waste Hundreds of loads of scrap metal Hundreds of empty polyethylene (plastic) drums
How much has all this cost the state so far?	The tire removal was performed with funds from the Used Tire Program at a cost of approximately $33,000. The contractor removing the liquid waste has billed the state $67,500 during the first week of the Phase II work and expects to bill approximately $50,000 more to complete the work.
Was there a concern about PCBs at the site?	During the screening process for the Phase II work, there was some concern that liquid waste in 25 of the drums might contain polychlorinated biphenals (PCBs), which were commonly used in oil in electrical capacitors and transformers and are linked to long-term health issues. Testing proved that the contamination was not PCBs. Rather, the drums contained tetrachloroethylene (PCE), which is a common industrial solvent. It has been widely used as a degreaser and a dry cleaning agent. The contractor performing the Phase II work for Illinois EPA will remove these drums and safely dispose them at a hazardous waste incinerator.
How much more work is there still to be done at the site?	The current work will go a long way to make the site safer, but much more cleanup is needed. However, Illinois EPA does not have a funding mechanism for this type of cleanup work. The next phase – Phase III - Illinois EPA plans to investigate the possibility of working with scrap haulers to remove the extensive metals waste at the site at no cost to the state. This would include angle iron, metal drums and other empty containers, frames of old vehicles, and a dump truck bed. There are also many polyethylene drums at the site that may be recyclable. There are thousands of rotten wooden pallets, landscape waste and construction and demolition waste that need to be removed. Once the metal scrap, tires and drums are all removed, Illinois EPA will determine whether a comprehensive environmental investigation of site soils, surface water and groundwater is needed. Illinois EPA contends, and the circuit court has ordered, that Mr. Tarkowski should pay for the investigation and cleanup, since he is responsible for generating the illegal dump site.
Why did it take so long for the Illinois EPA to make something happen at this site?	Many of the environmental laws that regulate operation of landfills, generation of hazardous waste, seal order authority and the like were not in effect until the late 1980s to early 1990s. U.S. EPA pursued an action against the site owner in the late 1990s but was stopped in federal court from performing testing to conduct an emergency removal action. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office (IAGO), acting as the attorney for the state of Illinois, has pursued environmental violations at this property at the request of the Illinois EPA based on existing authority. Illinois EPA and the IAGO continue to pursue actions to stop Mr. Tarkowski from operating an illegal landfill and violating other environmental laws.