HEALTH CONSULTATION
BANNER WESTERN DISPOSAL SERVICE
JOLIET, WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT OF ISSUES
The Illinois Department of Environmental Protections (IEPA) requested that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) review existing data on the Banner and Western Disposal Service (BWDS) site for public health implications. BWDS is an inactive 45-acre landfill on a 60-acre parcel (1) approximately 0.5 miles west of Rockdale in rural Will County, Illinois (Attachment 1). Mound Road is on the northern site border. An unnamed stream is on the western site border. A Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad line borders the south, and a wetland area borders the east side of the site (Attachment 2). Joliet Sand and Gravel (JSG), a gravel mining operation, is north, across Mound Road, and an active landfill is northwest of the site. Illinois & Michigan (I&M) Canal and wetland areas are south of BWDS.
Three residences are within 0.25 miles of the site, as reported by the Alternative Remedial Contracting Strategy (ARCS) V team field in 1995. An estimated 218 people live within 1 mile, and 31,423 people live within 4 miles of the site (U.S. Geological Survey, 1993). The city of Joliet is within 4 miles of the site. Approximately 1,056 acres of wetland areas, 7 state-designated natural areas, and habitats for 6 state-designated threatened and endangered species were identified within 4 miles of the site [Illinois Department of Conservation (IDOC) 1994].
Reportedly, the site began operating as an unpermitted landfill in the 1960s before Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) regulations were written. From 1968 until 1971 the site was operated by Banner Disposal Service of Joliet, and from 1971 to 1973, the site was operated by Waste Management of Illinois. In 1973, leachate from the site was suspected to be the cause of a fish kill in the I&M Canal south of the site. In 1976, three years after operations ceased, the landfill was covered with clay, and IEPA declared it officially closed. The site is part of an estate, whose family members have owned the property since the 1890s.
Little is known about site operations. Municipal and industrial wastes were accepted at the site for several years with little or no regulatory agency involvement. Illegal dumping also occurred at the site during that time. No records exist of waste types or volumes of wastes accepted. Waste was reportedly buried in trenches on about 75% of the site property. The site is in a gravel mining area that may have been a gravel pit at one time. Coarse-grained soil types predominate in this area, and no linear or leachate collection system exists on the site.
Geological information about the site area indicates the presence of 3 major water-bearing units. The 3 aquifers, in descending order, are a sand and gravel Quaternary drift deposit (95-100 feet thick), a Silurian dolomite bedrock formation (100-150 feet thick), and the dolomite and sandstone Cambrian-Ordovician system (500-2,000 feet below the ground surface). The first two aquifers (Quaternary drift and Silurian dolomite) appear to be hydraulically connected. Together, they form the aquifer of particular interest because that is the water used for most private drinking water wells (Table 1). Private well water is not subject to routine monitoring as public water supplies are. Table 2 provides the number of people using municipal and private wells within 4 miles of the site.
Table 1. The Origin of Municipal and Private Wells within 4 miles of the site.
|
Wells |
Aquifers |
Number of |
||
| Quaternary drift 5-100 feet thick |
Silurian dolomite 100-150 feet thick |
Cambrian-Ordovician 500-2,000 feet thick |
||
| Municipal water | ||||
| Joliet- 3 (Total 13 wells) |
13 |
78,000 |
||
| Rockdale 1 (within 1.5 miles) |
1 |
1,709 |
||
| Cresthill 3 (Total 5 wells) |
2 |
1 |
9,252 |
|
| Shorewood 2 (Total 4 wells) |
1 |
1 |
1,600 |
|
| Clearview 2 |
2 |
315 |
||
| Modern Mobile Home Park 2 (within 3 miles) |
1 |
1 |
50 |
|
| Private wells (the nearest is 300 feet northwest) |
1,674 |
4,989 |
||
Table 2. People within 4 miles of the site using municipal and private
water.
| Total | 0-¼ mile | ¼-½ mile | ½-1 mile | 1-2 miles | 2-3 miles | 3-4 miles |
|
31,423 |
9 |
60 |
149 |
2,010 |
7,550 |
21,645 |
The site is in a 100-year floodplain (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1982). An unnamed stream flows along the western site border and south approximately 0.21 miles before entering the I&M Canal. The flow rate for the unnamed stream is estimated to be 3 cubic feet per second (ARCS V Contractor 1995). The unnamed stream is not used for fishing or drinking water. Both a 1995 Illinois Department of Natural Resources report and 1983 U.S. Department of Interior National Wetlands Inventory Maps document that the I&M Canal is an intermittent surface water body. No habitats for any threatened or endangered species are along the surface water pathway (IDOC 1994). The I&M Canal is upstream from state designated natural areas, such as the Channahon State Park, the I&M Canal State Trail, and the Des Plaines Conservation Area.
The site was initially placed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act Information System (CERCLIS) on January 1, 1984, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requested a discovery action. IEPA completed the initial Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) evaluation and issued a preliminary assessment report on January 1, 1984.
In April 1989, USEPA conducted a screening site investigation and collected 8 surface soil and sediment samples and 4 residential well samples. The sampling results were not available for review, but the report states that several semivolatile organic compounds and metals were detected at concentrations more than 3 times the background levels. The report states that contamination may be present due to on-site sources. It also states that chloroethane was the only chemical detected in a downgradient residential well sample at a concentration greater than the upgradient samples, but below the health advisory guideline value. Chloroethane could not be attributed to the Banner site. No additional remedial or other regulatory actions were conducted at that time. On March 29, 1995, USEPA conducted a focused site inspection prioritization (FSIP) visit and collected 8 sediment samples.
On March 20, 1997, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) visited the site. The site is not fenced, and site access is unrestricted. The site is relatively level with some low areas. There were no on-site structures. Mound Road is elevated, and gullies run downward toward the site. Two residences are nearby: one directly across the street from the site at 2849 Mound Road; and the other approximately 300 feet northwest at 2700 Mound Road. The unnamed stream along the western site border appears to be fed by the dewatering process from the JSG gravel operation north of the site (Attachment 2). It discharges into the I&M Canal, approximately 0.2 miles south of the site. Several stockpiles of material from JSG are east of the site. The central portion of the site is level and covered with grass. A large leachate stream flows from the west-central face of the landfill. This leachate is orange with an oily sheen and a chemical odor. The leachate ponds in the southwestern site corner. Overflow from the leachate pond flows into the unnamed stream. IDPH staff noted another large leachate pond in the southeast corner. The ponds are not fenced.
A 5-foot diameter storage tank with unknown content had a leaking valve that protruds from the southwestern face of the landfill. Wetland areas border the southwestern and western sides of the site, the southeastern corner of the site, and the northeastern site corner. On the northeastern portion of the site, large quantities of landfill gas bubble up through a 20-feet diameter pond. A culvert from an approximately 30-acre elevated area contains leachate that is seeping into the unnamed stream. A tree house on the northwest corner of the site and shotgun shells and clay pigeons on the ground indicate that people may be using the site as a recreational area.
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