Contaminated groundwater posing health risks for Fifth and Hill residents

Champaign County Health Care Consumers representatives urged Champaign City Council at Tuesday night’s City Council Meeting to amend the Ground Water Restriction Ordinance passed the summer of 2007. According to CCHCC representative Claudia Lennhoff, Ameren’s December report reveals shocking information identifying the vaporization of 20 different toxins in the city’s ground water. However, the ordinance does not protect citizens from inhaling the toxins. This is has been a lasting concern for Champaign’s Fifth and Hill residents, even though the property is 40 to 50 feet away from the neighborhood’s residential area.

CCHCC’s primary concern is the ordinance’s failure to protect citizens from directly contacting and inhaling the toxins produced my Ameren. Ameren’s report quotes “it is using an institutional control to remediate the toxic ground water,” but Lennhoff claims that simply preventing ingestion of the toxins does not suffice as protection.

“Vaporization doesn’t stop at these boundaries,” said Lennhoff. Ameren failed to test outside of its boundaries, which suggests that the toxin vaporization could potentially hurt the Champaign residents.

The ordinance only prohibits residents from drinking the contaminated water. However, Ameren’s report indicated toxins can reach residents through other pathways, like inhalation and contact. Lennhoff claimed homes are forced to deal with flooding annually, putting people in direct contact with contaminated ground water. Additionally, water run-off into Boneyard Creek has potential to contaminate gardens that produce fruits and vegetables bought and consumed by the community.

Long term exposure to these toxins could cause serious health detriments like neurological and reproductive disorders, cancers and asthmas.

Amending the ordinance to include all three pathways of contamination – ingestion, inhalation, and direct contact – will force Ameren to clean up the toxins from the water. Though safety standards for benzene contamination in the ground water is five parts per billion, the southern end of the property showed a thousand parts per billion of benzene present in the ground water.

“On the surface, the ordinance is common sense,” said Lennhoff, “but its use is what is objectionable – its use is allowing Ameren off the hook from cleaning the contaminated ground water. It seems the real intent of this ordinance is to protect Ameren from incurring the costs of doing a thorough, and therefore costly, clean-up job.”

The data on Ameren’s website was not available in 2007, suggesting that Champaign City Council and Illinois EPA were not aware of the extent of contamination and the possibility of soil vaporization. However, the new data indicates that failure to amend the ordinance could jeopardize the health and well being of Champaign citizens in the area.

According to Lennhoff the problem dates back to nearly 20 years ago. Many residents that lived in the area previously have reporting sicknesses that could be caused by the contaminated vapors. It is a frequently neglected neighborhood in the City Council agenda.

The toxins have been building up since the Ameren plant first came into existence in the late 1830s. Buildup of contaminants over this period of time has the potential to affect day care centers, schools, and homes in the area surrounding the plant.

Ameren claims that a thorough clean-up will be disruptive. Lennhoff counteracted the statement in front of City Council saying, “people are willing to be disruptive”. According to CHHC representatives, illnesses and cancers are far more disruptive to a neighborhood.

“Who is being protected here?” questioned Lennhoff. She urged City Council to attend the Ameren open house which will be discussing its reports.

Reports and fact sheets related to this issue can be found on Ameren’s website. CHHC representatives also encourage citizens to attend Ameren open house to voice their concerns about the well being of Champaign residents.