July/August 1997
|
|
July/August 1997 |
by Greg Michaud
"Residents were tired about hearing reports of contamination. It was giving Waukegan a
black
eye. People were going north or south of Waukegan to fish rather than come to Waukegan
Harbor. Abandoned buildings and garbage were all around the harbor area. It was
depressing."
Waukegan resident at a September 1990 public meeting.
Waukegan Harbor, on the Illinois shore of Lake Michigan, was a depressing place for residents, tourists and the government. The largest known concentration of PCBs and PCB-contaminated sediment, approximately 450,000 kilograms (one million pounds), was one of several problems. Three hazardous waste sites listed on the U.S. National Priorities List, frequently referred to as Superfund, and several smaller hazardous waste sites were located in the area. Beach closings were frequent and there was little interest in redeveloping the harbor area despite what might otherwise be considered an attractive location midway between Milwaukee and Chicago. No constructive partnerships existed among any of the government agencies, major citizen groups and other interested parties.
Waukegan Harbor is one of the 42 severely degraded Great Lakes Areas of Concern named by the governments of the United States and Canada in the mid-1980s. The prospect of preparing a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) to restore this area seemed grim at the time.
Today you can see signs of redevelopment instead of "for sale" signs.
Both a Stage 1 and Stage 2 RAP have been completed. Virtually all of the immediate threats posed to wildlife, the harbor and near shore by hazardous waste sites and leaking underground storage tanks are resolved. The number of beach closings has been reduced in the past two years and partnerships with the business community are resulting in voluntary investigations of abandoned hazardous waste sites.
Perhaps the most symbolic event in this turn-around is the removal of the fish advisory this spring by the Lake County Public Health Department. On February 20, 1997, the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group, the Harbor Port District and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, along with the County Public Health Department, removed the signs warning against eating the fish in a ceremony attended by fishing and recreation groups and others. Removal of the harbor advisory marked the end of nearly two decades of restrictions imposed after PCB contamination in the harbor was identified in 1981.
The Superfund process triggered action at the Outboard Marine Corporation site that led to the removal of PCB-contaminated sediment. This action started in 1991 with dredging of the upper harbor and concluded with closure of the sediment containment cells.
Following the removal of PCB and PCB-contaminated sediments from the harbor, three years of annual fish sampling showed no violations of action levels for PCB in alewife, coho salmon, chinook salmon, rainbow trout and yellow perch. The most significant reduction was found in alewife, where average concentrations dropped from 10 parts per million to less than 0.5 parts per million.
A lakewide fish advisory still remains in effect, but since sampling has shown no appreciable difference in PCB concentrations in fish taken from the harbor and those from the open lake, the local advisory is no longer needed.
Open dumping of litter, residential garbage, tires and household appliances was a widespread problem within the Area of Concern. Largely through the combined efforts of the City of Waukegan, the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group, other volunteers and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, this problem is being resolved. A tire recycling project led to the removal of nearly 3,000 tires and a household hazardous waste pickup day filled 337 barrels. The RAP process also initiated what have now become annual beach sweeps.
With input from the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group, a focused brownfields initiative within the Area of Concern was started this spring. The purpose of this initiative is to identify older commercial properties that are prime candidates for redevelopment. Several parcels of property have been identified and are now being assessed to determine the extent, if any, of environmental liability. These assessments will remove the uncertainty that has thwarted redevelopment by either providing a "no further remediation letter" or identifying whether needed remediation is small or substantial.
A variety of solutions has been applied within the Area of Concern ranging from highly technical ones to the sweat and muscle of unpaid volunteers. Contaminated sediments were dredged from the harbor and treated with heat in an innovative $20 million dollar operation called the Taciuk Process. Federal, state and local governments have been active too. But the real catalyst has been, and will continue to be, the collaborative partnership among business, environmentalists, academia, fishing and other interests represented on the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group.
For more information, contact Greg Michaud, Manager of the Office of Community Relations, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 2200 Churchill Road, P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, IL 62794-9276. (217)782-5562; fax (217)785-7725.
Sommaire
Le port de Waukegan, sur la rive du lac Michigan en Illinois, était un véritable cauchemar pour les résidents de la région, les touristes et le gouvernement, ce pour plusieurs raisons, notamment parce qu'on y trouvait la plus grande concentration connue de PCB et de sédiments contaminés aux PCB. De plus, il y avait dans la région trois importantes décharges de déchets dangereux et plusieurs autres décharges de moindre importance. On fermait souvent les plages aux baigneurs et l'éventuelle revitalisation du port suscitait peu d'intérêt même si la région, située à mi-chemin entre Milwaukee et Chicago, pouvait présenter de l'attrait. Il n'existait aucun partenariat constructif entre les organismes gouvernementaux, les importants groupes de citoyens et les autres intervenants.
Aujourd'hui, on peut voir des signes d'amélioration au lieu d'écriteaux «À vendre». Que s'est-il passé?
Des plans d'action corrective (stades 1 et 2) ont été exécutés, de sorte que pratiquement tous les risques immédiats que présentaient les déchets dangereux et les rejets des réservoirs souterrains pour les espèces sauvages, les eaux du port et la rive ont été éliminés. Depuis deux ans, le nombre de fermetures de plages aux baigneurs a diminué, et des partenariats formés avec le monde des affaires permettent l'inspection volontaire des décharges de déchets dangereux abandonnées.
Ce printemps, le service de santé publique du comté de Lake n'a pas émis de mise en garde concernant la consommation de poissons; c'est probablement l'événement qui représente le symbole le plus marquant dans cette suite de revirements. Pendant près de vingt ans auparavant, depuis la contamination du port par des PCB en 1981, on imposait effectivement des restrictions à cet égard.
Différentes mesures correctives ont été prises dans ce secteur de préoccupation, depuis des solutions très techniques jusqu'à l'action de bénévoles sur le terrain. Toutefois, le véritable catalyseur a été, et continuera d'être, la collaboration entre les gens d'affaires, les environnementalistes, les établissements d'enseignement, les pêcheurs et d'autres groupes d'intérêts représentés dans le Groupe consultatif des citoyens de Waukegan.
Revised: July 7, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net