EPA weighing how to address Lake County asbestos contamination; ‘It's a pretty isolated location'

Chicago Tribune

01-07-2025

Whether the southwest portion of the Illinois Beach Nature Preserve at the Illinois Beach State Park is ever open to the public remains a question, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is getting closer to remediating the asbestos contamination there.
Currently inaccessible to the public both by physical means — there is a fence — and an EPA ruling, Dave Nadel, the EPA's community involvement coordinator for Region 5, which includes the Chicago area, said he is in the process of finalizing the decision-making.
Adjacent to the Johns Manville EPA Superfund site, Nadel said the contamination occurred years ago — likely in the 1940s or 1950s — before it became part of the nature preserve in 1964. Not part of Manville's property, dumping occurred in the past. The discovery of asbestos was more recent.
'It came to the surface through freeze cycle,' Neal said, referring to the ground freezing and thawing as the seasons change. 'We will decide on remediation and disposal.'
Twice in June the EPA came to Waukegan — June 4 and 26 — to learn the public's ideas about how to handle the site.
The EPA is in the process of preparing the Record of Decision Document on Operable Area 6 of the Superfund site, which is the southwest portion of the nature preserve, with a goal of finishing it by fall.
Presenting three options for public comment during both the June 4 and 26 meetings, one would be no action at all, another is periodic disposal of the asbestos with all public restrictions remaining in place, according to EPA documents. The projected cost is $554,000.
A third option, which Nadel said is the preferred method, is much more detailed. There will be regular removal of asbestos by properly licensed personnel both before and after controlled burns, or after any wildfire that may occur. There will be an air monitoring program.
Existing institutional controls will remain, like restricted access and land-use controls to limit disturbance activities, according to the EPA documents. Any access requires physical protective equipment and 'asbestos awareness training.' The forecast cost is $967,000.
Additional hazard warning signage will be placed around the area's perimeter, according to the documents. Enhanced work project practices during burns, like 'wet method mop-up' and masks, will be part of the program. All removal will be done by hand and taken to approved landfills.
Mayra Mendez, the executive director of Clean Power Lake County, an environmental activist organization, said at the June 27 meeting that her group prefers the enhanced method. Though she wants to see the entire Superfund site gone — not just Operable Area 6 — it provides the most protection.
'We have a lot of endangered spaces that affect our health,' Mendez said. 'The enhanced plan is the best, and the community deserves mitigation in this environmental-justice community.'
Not the only public official at the meeting, Nadel was joined by representatives of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Lake County Health Department and the Illinois Nature Preserve Commission.
A.J. Burlingham, an environmental health specialist with the state Health Department, said he was at the public information session to answer questions people may have about the impact of inhaling asbestos.
'The likelihood is very low at this site,' Burlingham said. 'It's a pretty isolated location that's been unavailable to the public for a long time. It's not like they had an opportunity to breathe much there.'