ETITION

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2005

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Hazards of the PDC Hazardous Waste Landfill

o

Peoria

waste

Reservoir

landfill

Disposal

Rds-)

on

andCothe

.

:is

operate

city's

seeking

itwest for

a

edge

permit

at least

(bounded

from

15

more

the

bycounty

RL

years

8

,,,

.

board

Forrest

It is

tothe

Hi11

greatly

only

Molleck

one

expand

left

andin

its

thetoxic

Greater Midwest, one of only 14 left in the nation, and has received highly toxic waste

~

from 15

states- It is the most important issue facing the city-county

-- and its future_

95% of the dire( t impact would be to the city . .

But the city's health is also the county's

',c)

*There are 843 toxic chemicals

- many the most toxic known to man short of nuclear

waste --

that the Illinois EPA permits PDC to bury in this 74-acre landfill

. The EPA

c( requirts testing groundwater for lust

20 of them

-- and has PDC itself do most testing-

N4a

N

U

*But there is no EPA resting

for air pollution

from the landfill, though chemicals do

volatilize through soil into our air, indeed, PDC has stack pipes in its landfill to vent gases

*A recent joint 5-country study in Europe found that babies born of mothers living within

11

2 miles of hazardous waste landfills

had 40% more birth defects and 33% more of other

V I

abnormalitiesA

New Jersey

(The

studyLancet:revealed1/26/02twice

:

as

Countries

many

premature

were Britain,Denmark,Francebirths,

, ascribed to airborne

;Belgium,Italy)-fumes

.

In 2005 a New York state study revealed

15% more strokes

in adults near such landfills-

*Peoria has a dense population (over 25,000) living downwind from and within a 2-mile

v radius-of the PDC landfill (from Farmington

Rd_, University Ave_ and Charter Oak and

Big Hollow Rds)

; This area includes 265 residential streets-lined with single and multi-

familyfamily

homes and apartments -,- plus

Bradley University_

BUT its effect goes far beyoncl

-

Groundwater contamination is a

longterm concern_ It travels for miles

. Thus landfill

J

adjoins the aquifer

from which much (60%) of the city water supply is drawn

: Also, it is

close to Kickapoo Creek and Illinois River

Chemical toxins can last

for centuries,

"forever," experts warn . But

the plastic and clay landfill liners

.are shortlived- And

monitoring methods "are not" fail-safe- "Every

landfill leaks," states Robert Kennedy Jr-

*PDC's current EPA permit allows 2_6 million cubic yards of waste and expires in

.2006-,

According to published reports, it wants

to add

more states and at least

six (6) -million

more cubic yards (2 million tons) over the next 15 years_ That would

fill 158 . of one of

the 30-story Peoria Twin Tower buildings_

Do

we want a mountain of highly toxic waste

~~ from

throughout the Midwest and

beyond in the heart of the county arid, on the city's doorstep? '

Q

DEFINITION.OFHA7ARDOUS

WASTE

in state law

: Waste hick "may cause or sigm-

Scantly contribute to an increase in mortality or_ _ _ serious, irreve[V

Iitating

Ill

orp tse

a srth~Qrantiat

havard to hu

hlth

thi

11

._manea

ore euvr4q~r~gf

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WHAT WE.WANT:. . _ .

CPC*

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4

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Luut

'Reject expansion of the landfill- (Peoria County Board hasj§Aj

pos'

ma

**Begin now the permanent closure of this landfill while we are alert to the

. problems_

p .

I&

a

**Become a community voice urging the state and nation to require and accelerate

development of means to (a) detoxify

hazardous waste and (b) recycle it to beneficial

- `<

-

G

!~,

uses instead of burying it -in

the ground where it remains hazardous

and a menace_

-Comoiled

from

many sources by Tom L Fdwardc

BF

I