Federal environmental investigators plan to visit the Illinois Beach State Park area Friday as they decide whether emergency asbestos removal is necessary.
Investigators have found 200 to 300 pieces of materials containing asbestos in the area, according to Carol Knowles, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The material is an ingredient in concrete piping scattered about the area. All of the pieces, Knowles said, would fit into a 55-gallon drum.
Kevin Turner, the on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said investigators hope the debris can be linked to the nearby Johns Manville Corp. plant in Waukegan, a federal Superfund site since 1982. If the newly found materials are linked to that site, Turner said, enforcement procedures already are in place for a cleanup.
The visit had been scheduled for Monday but was rescheduled because of heavy snow. Snow remained on the area Thursday, but Turner said officials are eager to make a preliminary visit.
“We are going to go out and take a look at the area. . . . It’s basically for a site tour and a little reconnaissance tour to get a lay of the land,” said Turner, who will help decide whether emergency action is needed or a long-term approach would suffice.
“We do not expect to see a whole lot, because it is covered in snow,” Turner said, adding that another visit is planned after the snow melts.
“The U.S. EPA, the Illinois EPA, Manville and, I believe, some local Illinois (Department of Naturual Resources) folks are going to be present,” Turner said. “My role here is to assess whether or not the U.S. EPA needs to be involved from an emergency response point.”
The state Department of Natural Resources has awarded Hanson Engineers Inc. of Springfield an $88,000 contract to test for asbestos at the beach. Work was delayed this week because of Monday’s snowstorm but will resume Monday, according to department spokesman Tim Schweizer.
This week, personnel from the Maywood regional office of the Illinois EPA visited the site to inspect security, according to Dennis McMurray, Illinois EPA spokesman. Surrounding the site they found a 100-foot length of the 5-foot-tall chain-link fence that was not topped with barbed wire, McMurray said. The agency has asked a contractor to put barbed wire on that portion of the fence.
