Environmental Progress - Spring 1997

Legal Counsel Sidebars

Contaminated Site Targeted By Illinois EPA Program

As part of the terms of a consent order filed in Cook County Circuit Court on December 30, 1996, Navistar International Transportation Corporation (Navistar) has agreed to remediate a contaminated site in Cook County as part of the Illinois EPA's site remediation program.

The Wisconsin Steel Works facility, located on the southeast side of Chicago, operated as a steel manufacturing plant from 1875 to 1980. For most of that time, the steel mill was operated by the International Harvester Company, now known as Navistar. Among the processes at the facility were electric arc furnaces, blast furnaces, pickling vats, and a coke oven plant. When the steel mill ceased operating, the buildings were demolished and some hazardous liquids and sludges were removed from the property. However, contaminated soil, as well as contaminated groundwater and surface water remained. While the extent of the contamination is not measurable at this time, it is considered to be extreme.

The Illinois EPA referred the matter to the Illinois Attorney General's Office in September 1994, requesting cost recovery and an order for cleanup of the site. Settlement negotiations led to the consent order and Navistar agreeing to remediate the site. Under the terms of the order, Navistar must adhere to a specified cleanup schedule, or pay stipulated penalties for each day the deadline is missed.

Once the cleanup is completed, Navistar plans to sell the property for possible use as an industrial park. Given the depressed economic condition of the surrounding area, development of such a large area would be a benefit to the bordering community.

Quick Action Averts Major Contaminant Release

Quick action by the Illinois EPA recently helped avoid a major release of contaminants to waters of the state.

On Feb. 24, 1997, a field inspector of the Illinois EPA investigated a citizen complaint of a leak from an estimated 18 million gallon liquid livestock waste lagoon at the Bradford Pig Palace, a 900 sow pork producing facility near Milo in southern Bureau County. The inspector found a discharge from the lagoon from a hole caused by burrowing animals, contacted one of the lagoon owners, and stayed onsite until the hole was repaired.

Later that week, a follow-up inspection found evidence of overflows over the top of the lagoon berms, apparently caused by excessive amounts of liquid in the lagoon contributed in part by heavy rains in the area. Seeps from the lagoon's berm walls indicated the potential for a greater release of liquid waste. On Friday, Feb.28, the Illinois EPA contacted the Office of the Illinois Attorney General for an injunction against the facility to prevent further discharges. With additional rain predicted for the weekend, it appeared the facility needed to move quickly to prevent a greater problem.

On Monday, March 3, Agency representatives met with the other owner of the facility, and a detailed compliance plan was developed to preclude both immediate releases and long-term problems with the waste lagoon.

On Wednesday, March 5, 1997, a preliminary injunction was filed with the Bureau County Circuit Court, requiring the facility to take the actions outlined in the compliance plan to preclude further releases from the facility.

In less than 10 days the Illinois EPA was able to work with the owners to have a court order entered to preclude a potentially catastrophic release of contaminants harmful to the environment.

Rulemaking Proposal Filed

The Illinois EPA filed a rulemaking proposal with the Illinois Pollution Control Board on Jan. 17, 1997, regarding cold cleaning degreasing operations in the Chicago and Metro-East St. Louis ozone nonattainment areas (NAA). The rule would require that solvents sold for or used in cold cleaning degreasing operations comply with certain vapor pressure limitations.

The proposed rule would regulate a large population of sources, i.e., auto repair shops, autobody refinishing shops, metal finishing shops, and solvent suppliers and recyclers. The vapor pressure limitations for solvents sold for or used in cold cleaning degreasing operations will be phased in with two compliance dates, March 15, 1999, and March 15, 2001.

Reductions of volatile organic material (VOM) from this proposal are expected to be 12 tons per day (TPD) for the Chicago NAA and 0.8 TPD in the Metro-East NAA in 1999 and approximately double that for the year 2001, a 67% decrease in VOM emissions from 1990. The cleaning of electronic components will be exempt from the rule's requirements.