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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Environment - How clean is clean in Illinois? And Indiana

Talking about dirt here.

"Debating the Cleanliness of Dirt" is the headline of this lengthy story dated Sept. 23rd by Kari Lydersen of the Chicago News Coop. Some quotes:

Questions about the earthiest of matters — whether there is such a thing as clean dirt and, if so, does it exist in Chicago? — are at the heart of a bitter policy fight between two powerful, politically connected industries: landfill and quarry operators.

Next week in Springfield, the Illinois Pollution Control Board will begin what promises to be a highly charged set of hearings about rules proposed by the state Environmental Protection Agency to define whether dirt and debris from construction and demolition sites is clean enough to be deposited in quarries. Such dirt and debris has long been deposited there, and state statutes mandate that the deposits be clean. But “clean” has never been clearly defined.

The debate over the proposed regulations is expected to resonate in suburban communities that get their water from aquifers connected directly to quarries, which have no linings or barriers to prevent toxic materials from leaching into the water supply.

It has pitted quarry operators, who say that the proposed regulations are too strict and costly, against landfill operators, who say the proposed rules are too lenient and will lead to polluted drinking water.

The landfill operators say most dirt in Chicago is contaminated enough that it should be going to landfills, which have waterproof liners and stricter monitoring requirements. * * *

Under the proposed rules, dirt headed for quarries would have to be tested for specific contaminants and could not be dumped if it exceeded limits for what was considered safe. Quarries would also have to monitor nearby groundwater once a year and report any problems to the state within 60 days. * * *

Under the proposed rules, construction and demolition managers would in many cases need to pay professional engineers or geologists to certify that their dirt was clean. Quarry operators would also have to test the dirt with an electronic meter and pay for the annual groundwater monitoring.

The ILB has had a number of entries under the heading "Contaminated soil from Louisville arena site dumped in Clarksville." (For background, start with this one from Oct. 6, 2010.) This Friday, Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier-Journal reported in a lengthy story:
Indiana environmental regulators have proposed a settlement in their dispute with the owners of the Marrs clean-fill site in Clarksville over contaminated materials it received from the KFC YUM! Center in downtown Louisville. * * *

The proposal includes a $140,580 penalty, extensive testing and the capping and closure of the site. * * *

IDEM has been investigating allegedly illegal dumping of contaminated soil from the KFC YUM! Center site for more than a year, based on estimates that more than 7,000 truckloads of soil and other fill materials were brought to Clarksville from the downtown Louisville site in 2008 and 2009.

Marrs acknowledged in July 2010 that he had received thousands of truckloads of material from the site, according to IDEM documents and inspectors’ statemenets.

Since then, state and private envrionmental experts have been attempting to determine the location of all the materials at the Marrs site.

Marrs is only allowed to receive clean fill, such as asphalt, unpainted concrete and clean soil, according to state regulations. But the materials from the YUM! Center excavation included low-levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, which often are left after diesel fuel has been stored or other fuels burned.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 25, 2011 06:27 PM
Posted to Environment