Ameren Cleanup Plans for 5th and Hill Site Gets Limited OK from Champaign City Council

The debate over cleanup plans at the 5th and Hill gas plant site continued Tuesday night during a Champaign City Council study session. City Council members generally support the plan --- but only up to a point.

Some neighbors of the old manufactured gas plant site say Ameren's year-long multi-million dollar cleanup plan fails to address contaminants leaking into groundwater that may appear in flooded basements. But project manager Brian Martin says follow-up testing at the request of those neighbors has found no sign of toxic chemicals in yards or basements. He says testing in basements, of sump pump water, and soil vapors turned up nothing to cause concern about exposure.

The Illinois EPA is backing Ameren's cleanup plan. But Claudia Lennhoff of Champaign County Healthcare Consumers says the agency needs to conduct additional testing to see if toxic vapors are escaping from groundwater into basements. She says other state environmental agencies conduct vaporization testing, and the Illinois EPA should do the same.

While generally backing the cleanup plan, City Council members put off a vote directing staff to starting planning for the eventual redevelopment of the 5th and Hill site. Many members say they want to see how the cleanup goes, before committing the city to anything. Mayor Jerry Schweighart says "there are too many unknowns at this time".