Latest Developments

There will be a global settlement discussion meeting on April 9, 2003 involving all parties including FWS with attorneys. They hope to identify both technical and non-technical issues to be resolved and timing of this resolution. This will be the first time the lawyers will sit down together. The EPA has had no contact with the court except for Frey case and Lemon Lane access. Judge Young has replaced Judge Dillon at the Circuit Court level, but Judge Foster is still the Special Master overseeing the case.

Earth Tech has contracted to complete a report on the expansion at ICS water treatment plant. They will be looking at flow rates to determine the need for additional processing equipment or storage capacity. (Last year 88% of the water from ICS was treated, though it must be noted that the remaining 12% has very high concentrations of PCBs.) The plant in its current configuration was designed as an interim solution, and it is now evident that further treatment capacity is needed.

Data validation is nearly complete for the November 2002 fish tissue analysis for Conard’s Branch/Richland Creek and Clear Creek. EPA is workng on completing a trend analysis on the fish data. EPA's position at Neal's is the same as for all Superfund sites, that due to the continuing releases, the plant needs to be expanded now to reduce the harm to human health and the environment. If there is a reduction in flow or PCB conentrations later, the plant can be scaled back. This is also true for Lemon Lane, where Viacom has refused to pay for the interim plant, and yet it's Karst Conduit Investigation has produced no reduction in flow or PCB concentration at Lemon Lane. Viacom contends that more time is needed before implementing solutions. Viacom has been willing to continue investigation, but does not want to implement solutions.

The EPA is in discussions with Viacom concerning performance of additional investigations at Bennett’s Dump as well. Testing has revealed that there may be a correlation between water level at the nearby quarries and the flows from Bennett's Springs. Further pump and and dye trace testing are possible.

The Lemon Lane Landfill Long-Term Groundwater Monitoring final comments have been incorporated, and it will be available shortly. It has a complete historical data record for sampling.

EPA wants Viacom to submit a Lemon Lane Investigation Plan that would delineate goals and a timeline for their Karst Conduit Investigation, which has so far produced no information that would lead to reduced flow or PCB concentrations at ICS.

Viacom is planning further fish tissue sampling at Conard’s Branch/Richland Creek and Clear Creek in the spring of 2003. Discussions about the ecological and human health risk assessments continue with Viacom. There are ongoing disagreements about these, for example Viacom wanting to use Raccoon or Opossum rather than Mink or River Otters as the biologic receptor. EPA will finalize the risk assessment, even without the agreement of Viacom.

EPA is beginning discussions with Viacom on sediment sampling at Conard's Branch, Richland Creek, Clear Creek, and at the Swallowhole area at ICS.

EPA is developing Remedial Action Objectives for the remaining sites, which are the goals which they hope to achieve for the three sites (Bennnett's, Neal's, and Lemon Lane).

EPA has asked Viacom to develop a screening database for all sampling data that will be available to the public.

Illinois Central Spring

• 136,667,414 gallons treated
• 18,080,726 gallons overflowed - ~12,000,000 gallons in May alone
• Treated approximately 88% of total flow -no overflows for 5 months
• 313,449,020 gallons treated since May 1, 2000

• Elimination of regular influent sampling
• Continue weekly effluent sampling, including storm effluent sampling
• SRS tank overflow sampling for PCBs and TSS with concurrent influent sampling
• No overflow since June, 2002, so no overflow sampling has been done.

Lemon Lane Landfill Conduit Investigation

Summary of results to date

• No flush has introduced a significant PCB response at ICS
• Ground water appears to flow east to MW-4I area, but storm sampling does not indicate significant PCB transport from this area
• Tracer travel times from MW-4I, MW-18 and PZ-F match empirical relation
• Some tracer tests have very poor and/or late recovery at ICS
• Tracer recovery related to degree of connection to the principal conduit flow paths

Neal’s Landfill

Neal Landfill Ground Water Investigation

Northwest Spring System

Over the past 3 years there has been an apparent reduction in peak flow rate, and a possible reduction in peak flow volume from the springs at Neal's. There are several possible causes for this reduction that EPA intends to investigate. One is the new retention structures (ponds) that have been built in the Cave Creek watershed. Another possibility is the nearby Rogers Quarry operations, which has several springs within its boundries. There were drainage alterations associated with the Remedial Action, and these could have reduced flow as well.

The EPA has begun ground water basin delineation for the Northwest Spring system at Neal's Landfill. They hope to determine by tracer testing the size and configuration of the Northwest Spring System. They will relate these data to the apparent peak flow and storm flow runoff reduction (1984-2002). The hope is that by finding ways to futher reduce peak flows at the springs, they can reduce the load on any future water treatment systems. Currently the peak flow volume from the Northwest Spring System is at least 4 times larger than the peak flow volumes at Lemon Lane. Area reconnaissance was done during December 2002 – January 2003, and numerous sinkholes and caves were identified, and Viacom has subsequently submitted a dye testing plan.