EPA v. TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL/ELGIN LANDFILLS SITE

Case summary

SITE ENCOMPASSES THE TRI-COUNTY AND ELGIN LANDFILLS, WHICH WERE DESIGNATED AS ONE SITE BECAUSE SAMPLING RESULTS INDICAT ED THAT CONTAMINANTS FROM BOTH WERE COMMINGLED. TOTAL ACREAGE APPROXIMNATELY 66 ACRES. HAZ. SUBSTANCES HAVE BEEN ANDARE THREATENED TO BE RELEASED FROM THE SITE. COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL AND DOMESTIC WASTES WERE DISPOSED OF, AND MIGRATI ON AND DEGRADATION OF THESE WASTES RESULTED IN A RELEASE OF HAZ. SUBSTANCES. EPA HAS UNDERTAKED RESPONSE ACTIONS AT THE SITE AND WILL ALSO DO SO IN THE FUTURE. ON 2/2/94 EPA ENTERED INTO AN AOC WITH WASTE MGMT AND BROWNING FERRIS THE REMEDIAL DESIGN RESULTING FROM THIS ORDER WAS COMPLETED AND APPROVED BY EPA 9/30/97. NEGOTIATIONS WITH BFI AND WMI WERE OFFICIALLY TERMINATED 8/26/98. BECAUSE OF THE DEFERRED GROUNDWATER COMPONENT, THIS SITE MAY NOT STRICTLY QUALIFY AS A CONSTRUCTION COMPLETION UNTIL THE GROUNDWATER COMPONENT IS EITHER CONSTRUCTED OR ELEMINATED. THE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION AT THE SITE WILL BE ADDRESSED BY NATURAL ATTNUATION, ONCE THE PLACEMENT OF THE LANDFILL CAP AND ACTIVE LANDFILL GAS COLLECTION SYSTEM IS COMPLETED. A SUBSEQUENT RECORD OF DECISION (ROD) AMENDMENT WILL BE REQUIRED IN THE EVENT THAT NATURAL ATTENUATION IS ACCEPTED AND FINALLY CHOSEN AS THE FINAL TREATMENT FOR THE CONTAMI- NATED GROUNDWATER. THE TRI-COUNTY/ELGIN LANDFILLS ARE FUNCTIONALLY ONE CONTI- GUOUS DISPOSAL UNIT WITH SEPARATE OWNERSHIP AND OPERATING HISTORIES. THE SITE TOTALS APPROXIMATELY 66 ACRES, OF WHICH ALL BUT ABOUT 4 ACREAS CONTAINS FILL MATERIAL. THE SITE ACCEPTED SOLID AND LIQUID COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL WASTE FROM 1961 THROUGH 1976. ALTHOUGH SOME RECORDS OF WASTE TYPE AND QUANTITIES EXIST FOR THE TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL, LOCATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL IS NOT KNOWN FOR EITHER LANDFILL. IN 1984, THE U.S. EPA DETECTED VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS) IN GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELLS DOWNGRADIENT OF THE SITE. APPROXIMATELY, 10,000 RESIDENTS WITHIN 3 MILES OF THE SITE USE GROUNDWATER AS THEIR SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER. THE ELGIN LANDFILL CURRENTLY ACCEPTS CONSTRUCTION AND LAND- SCRAPING MATERIALS. SEVERAL SMALL BUSINESSES ARE LOCATED AT THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE SITE. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE OF RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY ON THE TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL. THERE ARE NO FENCES OR EXCLUSION BOUNDARIES SURROUNDING THE SITE, NOR ARE THERE POSTED WARNINGS TO KEEP OFF. THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE SITE IS MARKED BY THE PRAIRIE PATH WHICH IS CURRENTLY USED AS A RECREATIONAL PATH FOR WALKING, JOGGING, HORSEBACK RIDING AND BIKING. THERE ARE SEVERAL SMALL BUSINESS ON THE EASTERN BORDER OF THE SITE. IT HAS BEEN ASSUMED THAT THE PROPERTY COULD BE USED FOR RESIDENTIAL DVELOPMENT IN THE FUTURE. THIS POSSIBILITY SEEMS REMOTE SINCE ANY TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE SITE WOULD MOST LIKELY DISRUPT THE INTEGRITY OF THE CONTAINMENT FEATURE OFTHE LANDFILL. HOWEVER, THE ALTERNATIVE OF FUTURE RESIDEN- TIAL DEVELOPMENT REMAINS A POSSIBILITY SINCE IT IS CONSIS- TENT WITH CURRENT LAND USE PATTERNS. FUTURE POPULATIONS COULD BOTH RESIDE AND WORK ON THE PROPERTY. THE U.S. EPA PLACED THE TRI-COUNTY/ELGIN LANDFILLS SITE ON PRIORITIES LIST, SET FORTH AT 40 CFR PART 300, APPENDIX B, BY PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER ON MARCH 13, 1989 (54 FEDERAL REGISTER 10512). IN 1988, THE U.S. EPA INITIA- TED A FUND-LEAD REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION (RI) AND FEASIBILITY STUDY (FS), PURSUANT TO 40 CFR  300.430. THE U.S. EPA COMPLETED THE RI REPORT ON JULY 24, 1992, AND THE FS REPORT ON JULY 24, 1992. THE RI/FS STUDY FOUND LOW LEVERL GROUND- WATER CONTAMINATION OUTSIDE OF THE LANDFILL BOUNDARIES, CON- TAMINATED SURFACE WATER AND SEDIMENT IN AN ADJACENT WETLAND, AND WIDESPREAD CONTAMINATION IN SURFACE SOILS AT THE LAND- FILLS INCLUDING VOLATILE AND SEMI-VOLATIE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, PESTICIDES, AND HEAVY METALS.

Defendants (2)

• TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL COMPANYNamed in settlement
• WASTE MANAGEMENT OF ILLINOISNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL COMPANY

  ROUTE 25, SOUTH ELGIN, IL, 60177

  Registry ID: 110009282971

Statutes cited

• CERCLA 107 — Superfund

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• TRI-COUNTY LANDFILL/ELGIN LANDFILLS SITEentered 1998-11-19

  Primary law: CERCLA

Timeline (2 milestones)

• 1998-11-05Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 1998-11-19Final Order Issued