Local Group Warns About Toxic Waste Going To Clinton Landfill

A local community advocacy group said the Illinois EPA’s failure to protect their neighborhood from toxic Manufactured Gas Plant waste also threatens residents across Central Illinois.

The 5th & Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign said waste removal left over from a gas plant site in the neighborhood has been going to the Clinton Landfill since 2011.  They said this puts the Mahomet Aquifer at risk.

“The Illinois EPA has let us down. They know that we are living in a contaminated neighborhood, but they have told us that they have no plans to make Ameren do anything about, despite promises they made to us when the clean-up first started,” said neighborhood member Ebbie Cook.

The campaign is run by Champaign County Health Care Consumers. They sid the clean-up Ameren began in 2009 wasn’t adequate in removing all of the waste from the homes surrounding the site.   

Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff said they can’t wait anymore for a response from the Illinois EPA. They’re now turning to the US EPA to order a full clean-up of the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, they’ll be circulating a petition asking Governor Quinn to halt the acceptance of chemical waste into the Clinton Landfill at the Mahomet Aquifer Summit this Saturday.