By Joe Ragusa
CLINTON – A resolution to end years of fighting over the potential dumping hazardous materials over the Mahomet Aquifer is close to being approved.
The landfill’s owners, Clinton Landfill Inc., have agreed to pay $1 million in fees to the county dating back to when the county challenged the landfill’s application for permits to dump polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, into the landfill. In exchange, the landfill will drop its pursuit of dumping PCBs into the landfill, which sits on top of a source of drinking water for around 800,000 people in Central Illinois.
The DeWitt County Board will vote on the proposed agreement Thursday, although exact details of the proposal have not been released.
State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) says everyone likes what they’ve seen from the agreement between the DeWitt County Board and owners of the Clinton Landfill.
“I’ve talked to the lawyers for the consortium of the municipalities and the counties, and I’ve talked to local activists, and they seem to be happy with the direction this is proceeding,” Rose said. “But I think everyone wants to see the final language in the settlement agreement.”
State Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is sponsoring legislation to prevent hazardous materials from being dumped near the Mahomet Aquifer.
“It’s not going to have everything that everybody wants in it,” Bennett said. “For example, PCBs are not discussed because they are in some ways dealt with by federal application permits, but what we’re hoping to do at this point is get (HB 1326) passed.”
Bennett noted the legislation has other protections in it, including Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, or TCLP, testing.
HB 1326 is pending in the Senate after it was approved April 16 in the House by a 104-10 vote. More information on the bill can be found here.
The Mahomer Aquifer was designated a “sole source” of drinking water last month by the EPA, putting in place more restrictions to prevent the possibility of contaminants reaching the drinking water.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
