TO WHOM 1'1' MAY CONCERN AT
:
r
Illinois Pollution Control Board
c/o Carol Webb
1021 N
. Grand Ave . E .
P.O .Box 19274
Springfield, II_ 19274
RECEIVEDCLERK'S
OFFICE
OCT 3 0 2006
Pollution
STATE OF
Control
ILLINOISBoard
Oct . 28, 2006
Clerk's Office
100 W . Randolph St_
Suite 11-500
Chicago, IL 60601
I just returned to Peoria after 3 months deeply involved in another matter in another
state, to learn that persons here were being told that letters on a local pending case before
the Illinois Pollution Control Board cannot he sent to the hearing officer of the case
.
On checking that with the IPCB clerk's office I was advised, "It is your right to
comment," and letters on a given case can be sent to "either" the hearing officer or the
IPCB clerk's office, or both
. The pending Peoria County case was specifically mentioned
.
"Anybody who has interest in the case can send in comments on it," I was informed
.
(The clerk's office noted that in one IPCB case there were 7,000 letters of comment
.)
That certainly seems logical and right legally and morally, and the American way
. And
certainly there has not been any public notice from the IPCB to the contrary
.
And certainly this case is crucial to the longterm health and welfare of the entire Peoria
area
. Because the EPA permit for the landfill at issue here
:
1) Allows 843 of the most toxic wastes known to be buried in this landfill
-- and it is
over the shallow aquifer that supplies most of this area's water
;
2) It is adjacent to and upwind of the entire city
--
and in just the last 5 years,
where
there have been studies, severe health effects have been ascribed to air pollutants from
such landfills.
Toxic wastes are brought to this landfill here from an average of 11 to 12 states per year,
and a total so far of 15 .
Sincerely,
NOTE : The above case i
Thomas L. Edwards
902 W . Moss Ave
.
Peoria. IL 61606
eoria Disposal Co . vs
. Peoria County Board .
Carol Webb, hearing officer
Illinois Pollution Control Board
1021 N . Grand Ave
. East\
Box 19274
Springfield, IL 19274
Dear Ms
. Webb,
Tomorrow, I Understand, is to be your choice on whether to further delay, from January
to March, your decision on the Unambiguous 12 to 6 decision of the Peoria County Board
not to issue a new permit to Peoria Disposal Co
. to expand -- actually more than double
the volume of its toxic waste landfill, which takes such wastes from a dozen states
annually, and which lies immediately upwind of Peoria and over this area's aquifer
.
PDC, of course, will want you to procrastinate your decision
. Time can diffuse such
issues -- unless
. of course, tragedy arrives .
Note
: Copy to IPCB clerk's office at Chicago
.
RECEIVEDCLERK'S
OFFICE
OCT 3 0 2006
October 30 . 2006
Pollution
STATE OF
Control
ILLINOIS
Board
Poi
January will be the ninth month since the county board's unequivocal decision
.
And the hearing record is before you
.
There are far superior locations to dispose of such wastes, and far better means
.
That is the responsibility of the state and federal government to pursue
. The right to say
yes or no to a permit or its extension is Peoria County's only legal lever
.
Without exaggeration, though still inadequately recognized, Peoria's health and welfare
lies in your decision .
Sincerely ~_
GS~I/j
Thomas L
. Edwards
902 W
. Moss Ave
.
Peoria, 1L 61606
Pc ~~-~gy
Atty . Carol Webb
corn
CEIVE
.26, `06
Illinois Pollution Control Board
CLERK'S OFFI
Dear Ms . Webb,
OCT 3 2006
~~
Re : Petition of Peoria Disposal Co . before the IPCB to
F IL
OIS
,
c3! ruling of
the Peoria County Board not to grant an expansion permit for PDC's toxic waste
landfill:
He
a,
r
; u y da, fe c-h ctavg
e,•
I understand that PDC wants still another delay, from January to March, of its appeal of
the county board's May 3 decision . Evidently PDC has made no plans for closure
.
PDC has had this matter before it since November, 2003, initially via the "Host
Agreement," up through the finally called public hearing and May 3, 2006, decision of
the Peoria County Board, a
total of 3 years .
By January, 2007, it will be another eight
months
. The board has been and is still under a dictum (ex parte?)
that entire time not to
discuss this matter with anyone from the public, including during the appeal
.
Moreover, dumping has been and continues going on pell mell
. Its current 1987 10-year
permit, already extended 9 years by IEPA from 1997, expires this year, 2006
. So does
the permit's still in effect 1987 volume limit, which is 2 .64 million cubic yards
(equivalent to just one million tons)
. And the expansion permit sought is to add another
2.2 million tons, i .e
., over twice what the present permit was to allow!
PDC's toxic 74-
acre hill has already become highest in the area, and would become 5 stories,
i .e., 45 feet
higher.
And that hill has been a dumping ground long before 1987,
way back to 1940!
Remember : This hazardous waste landfill is also in a very hazardous location
:
1) It sits over the local aquifer and relatively close to the wells which supply most of the
Peoria area's water
. (The owners of the water company are suddenly trying to sell it)
.
2) It is also immediately adjacent to and upwind of the entire Peoria area . Just
recent
research in the U .S
. and Europe shows a higher rate of premature births, birth defects,
and adult strokes in the vicinity of toxic waste landfills, ascribed to air pollutants
. It only
takes less than a billionth part of some chemicals to affect living organisms, of which we
are one .
The IEPA permit allows 843 highly toxic chemicals, many the most toxic known to man,
to be buried there --
and requires limited testing for only 20 of them .
*The state needs to close and secure this landfill for perpetuity
. It needs to find a far
safer site
. Moreover, it needs to find superior means of dealing with hazardous waste
.
We need to close this landfill while we have it in our grasp and attention to do so
. And
PDC is still extant and available to shoulder, at least share the costs
.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,
Tom Edwards, 902 W . Moss Ave . Peoria, IL 61606
