Environmental Progress - Summer 1999

A Different Kind of Mother Goose Story

Canada Goose rearing her goslings in setting that isn't what it seems.

From the perspective of a migrating Canada goose, it must have seemed like an ideal spot to take up residence and rear young - a nice big open water surface, lots of things growing and a fence to keep out intruders. From the viewpoint of Illinois EPA personnel visiting the site last spring, it didn't look like such a fairy tale setting. The water is a collection of rainwater and leachate some 40 feet deep. The "islands" dotting it are floating refuse which, in warm weather, support such a growth of vegetation it appears to be solid ground. The fence was erected by the Illinois EPA in 1997 to keep trespassers away from the dangerous pit.

Western Lion Landfill and Service Disposal #1 is a 26 acre site about a mile and a half north of Mattoon, in Coles County, abandoned by the owner/operator in 1994. At that time, the site consisted of an open pit approximately 100 and 200 feet in surface area, and 40 feet deep. Partially filled with garbage, the uncovered pit has since filled with rainwater and snowmelt, which mingles with the leachate released from the landfilled material.

The site had been ordered sealed by the Director of the Illinois EPA, but when the seal order failed to keep out trespassers, the Agency fenced it as a safety measure.

Last April, Sue Doubet, a project manager in the Remedial Project Management section in the Agency's Bureau of Land, was making a site visit with a contractor and noticed what appeared to be the body of a goose amid the floating garbage, barely visible with its neck extended and its head flat on the ground. As they moved around the perimeter of the fence, however, they realized the goose "was moving her head just enough to keep us in sight at all times," Doubet said. "It was sad to realize she had found this fenced private pond, safe from predators, to raise her goslings, and had no way of knowing the other risks they would be exposed to."

Corrective actions planned at site

Though a court judgment has been issued against the owner of the property, he lacks the financial resources to correct the multiple problems at the site, where leachate occasionally overflows into nearby Riley Creek. To protect the Class A stream, the Illinois EPA in 1998 constructed a berm around the open cell. That same year, heavy rains brought the leachate up nearly to the top of the berm, so the Bureau of Land has made a commitment to pump out and backfill the pit. Because of the high quality of Riley Creek, the dilute leachate cannot be simply pumped out, but will be trucked to the Mattoon waste treatment plant for disposal.

Goose, goslings couldn't be moved

Once Sue and her co-workers realized they had a "squatter" living at their site, they considered trying to capture her and move her and her eggs someplace safer. However, discussions with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that a permit would be required, and because of the risk of spreading disease, the goose could not be relocated. Since the leachate is dilute in chemical components, her would-be benefactors could only hope for the best.

Five goslings hatched in early May and have been observed swimming in the pit. Though stained from leachate mixed with the water, they seem all right.

If the geese survive and migrate, they will not find this deceptive contaminated "refuge" when they return next year. On June 15, Gov. George Ryan signed legislation that includes funding for work on some of the worst landfills in the state. The legislation will allow more remedial work on the Western Lion site including re-contouring of the surface and installation of a water tight clay cap. That work should begin next spring. Work on dewatering the pit was completed this summer.

Tom Miller, who works with the Illinois EPA's Bureau of Land in the Collinsville regional office, is an accomplished photographer on and off the job. Tom agreed to meet Sue Doubet at the Western Lion site at sunrise one morning to document the visitor's presence in the best possible lighting conditions. "The goose never left her nest," Doubet said, "but she followed Tom's every move with her head." The photos he took that morning provided our cover photo and inside illustrations.