News Releases - 1997

Sample Tests Confirm No Health Hazard Anticipated from Potential PCB Contamination of Road Surfaces in Henry and Marshall Counties: Results Well Below Levels of Concern

Springfield, Ill. -- Laboratory analysis of samples taken from township roads in Marshall and Henry counties showed PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) contamination levels well below those considered posing a health hazard, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed today.

The agencies were informed last month by Safety-Kleen Inc. that some waste materials processed at its East Chicago, Indiana facility contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and were shipped to Marathon Oil Company in Utica. Some of the product was mixed with asphalt materials and subsequently applied on a few roads in Phoenix and Alba Townships in Henry County and LaPrairie Township and the Village of Hopewell in Marshall County.

Based on information from Marathon on quantities and dilution rates, the state and federal agencies had earlier estimated a potential range of 4 to 13 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs in the asphalt that was applied to road surfaces. Both agencies usually require removal or encapsulation of PCB contaminated soil in areas with frequent public contact, such as playgrounds and residential areas, if levels are 10 ppm or more.

However, the actual asphalt samples taken under Illinois EPA supervision on each of the potentially impacted township roads, were all reported by Safety-Kleen to be less than the detection limit of 1 parts per million (ppm). Illinois EPA also did an independent analysis of 20 percent of the samples, at a lower detection level of 0.1 ppm. While there were detections of PCBs in some of those samples, none of them exceeded 1 ppm., and were in the range of .1 ppm to .72 ppm, confirming the results reported by Safety-Kleen.

Illinois EPA uses a cutoff of 1 ppm of PCBs in soil, below which there is no regulatory concern and the soil can be used as "clean fill" in residential areas where children may be living. Since the asphalt surfacing material will bind up the PCBs as tightly, if not more tightly, than soil, there should be no concern about exposure to the asphalt.

In addition, higher levels of PCBs than were detected in the asphalt samples are routinely found in certain Lake Michigan fish species. A health advisory for those fish states they can be safely consumed by anyone, including women of child-bearing age and children, at a rate of one meal per month for a lifetime.

As a result of the sampling results, no remediation actions related to the asphalt in Henry and Marshall counties are planned by the two agencies.