Followup on Release of Liquid from Landfill 33

The liquid released over Memorial Day weekend from Landfill 33 when a pump was shut off has been examined by state officials and was not toxic.

Kim Mills, who serves as Public Information Officer for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said the liquid was "not toxic by definition". Mills said the "high total of suspended solids" in the liquid reduced the oxygen level in the water. That reduction eliminated sufficient oxygen in the bacteria that fish in the water feed on, resulting in the fish dying. When asked whether there was the possibility of harm to humans, Mills said there was not.

Mills said the water was tested both upstream and downstream of the area in question, and no problems were found upstream.

Mills said steps were taken to remediate the waterway in the area where the leak occurred and said land was removed along the waterway. She said Landfill 33 was responsible for hiring someone to do the remediation and said the State will go back to make sure the remediation was done properly.

As to why the leak occurred, Mills said it was due to the pump being shut off on the landfill property. She said their field inspector checked the pump house. The liquid is pumped from the south leachate tank at the landfill to the north tank. When the pump was shut off, enough liquid accummulated in the south tank to lead to the liquid flowing into the waterway, which is an unnamed tributary to Salt Creek.

Mills noted there is a crack in the south leachate tank that hadn't been detected before the inspection, but said had the pump continued operating, the crack would not have been a problem.

Mills said her agency is continuing its investigation into the incident, and hopes for a resolution of the matter in the next week or two. She said she doesn't know whether the matter will result in a violation notice, but said such a notice would not be unusual in this type of incident.

Landfill 33 operator Brian Hayes said earlier he believes someone came onto the landfill property and "whether it was intentional or random" shut off the electrical system that resulted in the pump ceasing operation. The Effingham County Sheriff's Department was called to investigate the incident.