UsQSF®

SAINT FRANcIs

MEDICAL

CENTER

September

8,

2008

S

OFFICE

John

Therriault,

Clerk

SEP

15200

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

OF

ILLINOIS

TOO W

Randolph

ontrol

Board

Suite

11-500

Chicago,

IL

60601

To whom

it may

concern:

Enclosed,

please

find

a

copy

of my

May

8,

2007

correspondence

to

the IEPA regarding

the

continued

operation

of

PDC’s

Hazardous

Waste Facility

in Pottstown,

Peoria

County. As

physicians

caring

for

cancer patients

in Peoria

County

and Central

Illinois,

we

applaud

and

commend

the recent

decisions

of

the

IEPA and

the

Peoria

County Board

to deny

the

pennit to

expand the

facility.

This letter

is in response

to PDC’s

recent

request

(and subsequent

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

Public Hearing)

to

de-list,

as

a

hazardous

waste,

Electrical

Arc Furnace

Dust,

(K06fl.

effectively

expanding

the

operational

life

of

the

facility.

As stated

in the

prior

letter,

physicians

in Peoria,

including

those serving

on the

Cancer

Committee

at OSF Saint

Francis

Medical

Center,

(which I chair),

remain

highly

concerned

about

the continued

importation

and accumulation

of

toxic and/or

known

carcin4xenic

chemicals

into Peoria

County,

by PDC

or anyone

else.

It has been

well

documented

by

the IDPH

through

data obtained

from

the

American

Cancer

Society,

that

Peoria

county

has an

elevated

can cer

incidence,

when

compared

to

most

other

counties

in Illinois.

This is

not to

say that PDC

is responsible

for the

elevated

cancer rate

in

Peoria

County, since

as scientists,

we recognize

that carcinogenesis

is a multi-factorial

problem.

PDC claims

that

their

“proprietary”,

new

process will

stabilize,

and

render

inert, the

heavy metals

included

in EAF

dust. Exactly

which of

the heavy

metals, (thirteen

of

which

are

listed

as

constituents

of EAF

dust by

the EPA),

and any other

potentially

carcinogenic,

volatile

organic compounds

that will

be “stabilized”

is

not made

clear

by

PDC.

Inquiring

minds

want

to

know!

Regardless,

whether

or not

some of

PDC’s individual

waste

streams,

(such as EAF

dust),

are

processed

by

PDC

in a different

manner

has little

bearing

on the

overall issue,

which

remains,

the

unacceptable

health

risks posed

to our population

by

importing

these

compounds

into

Peoria

from

outside the

County

of

Peoria,

and

outside

the state

of

Illinois. We

believe

the import,

for

processing

or

interment,

should cease

immediately.

Moreover,

hazardous

chemicals

already

buried in unprotected

areas of the

facility should

be remediated

as

soon as

possible.

530

N.E. Glen

Oak Avenue

• Peoria,

Illinois 61637

°

Phone

(309)

655-2000

vzvrw

osfsaintfrancis.

org

The

Sisters of the

Third

Order

of St. Francis

---

As

to

the

argument

about

disposing of the Peoria-generated

hazardous

waste (including

EAF dust),

from Keystone or

Caterpillar, I

think most persons would

agree

that,

“what is

gçjrated

in

Peoria

stays

in Peoria”. That

is just the cost of

doing business in any

community,

and frankly, all

of Peoria benefits

from those

industries. That said,

many

similar

industries have decided

to recycle

the heavy metals rather

than

bury

them in

landfills.

What we, as physicians

and scientists,

take issue with and

simply do not understand,

is

the

scientific

logic behind

importing

more

of these toxic

substances into an

environment

that already has an abnormally

high

cancer burden. The

increased health

risk posed by

importing

these

toxic

compounds

is borne

by

the community as a

whole, who reap no

benefit

for assuming that

increased risk.

It seems only fair and

logical

that

other states,

that produce

hazardous

substances, bear

the appropriate

costs for the disposition

of such,

both

fi-om a financial and

health risk

perspective.

We,

as physicians caring

for families in

and around

Peoria County, respectfully

request

that the Illinois

Pollution

Control Board

act in the best interests

of

the

health of Peoria

county

citizens, (as did the

IEPA

and the

Peoria

County

Board

previously),

and deny the

current request

of Peoria

Disposal Company

to dc-list electrical

arc furnace dust

as a

hazardous

waste stream.

Furthermore,

we ask

that any

future request from

PDC, which

would otherwise prolong

the (term

limited) life of the

Hazardous Waste

Facility, be

carefully

considered

in this context.

Sincerely,

James

L. McGee, M.D.

Chairman Cancer Committee

OSF Saint

Francis

Medical

Center

530 N.E Glen

Oak

Peoria, IL, 61637

---

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CEN[i;k

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Hol?( 10

?iIc.

May

8,

2007

Stephanie

Flowers

Hearing

Officer

#2

Illinois

Lnvjronrnental Protection

Agency

102

1

Grand Avenue

East

P.O. Box 19276

Springfield,

IL 62794-276

Dear

Ms. Flowers:

I am the Chairman

of the Cancer

Committee

at

OS.F Saint Francis

Medical Center which

iS

CompoSed

of

cancer surgeons,

oncologists, pathologists,

radiation therapy physicians,

nurses,

cancer

registrars and a lay person

from the Peoria business community.

We

discussed

P.DC’s

pending

applical:ion iso

expand

the

hazardous waste disposal

facility

at

PDC

#1 in

Pottstown, After reviewing

th TDPT—I data

on

elevated cancer rates

in Peoria

County,

the Committee

members felt that continued

operation of the PDC

facility poses

significant

risk

to

the

health of Peoria

County

residents.

During the

discussion,

it

was

agreed

that

no

one

is

saying

that PDCs

operation

is directly

causing

cancer. Rather, the

concern was that

it

just does

not make good sense to continue

importing known

carcinogenic hazardous waste from outside Peoria County

and outside

the state of

Illinois, and burying it in a site

so close

to

a populated

area and

over

i:hc

aquifer, in

a

county with

a clocuiriented high

cancer

burden.

The

Cancer Commiltce

therefare adds its

voice

to

those of the Medical

Staff

of all

three

Peoria

Hospitals,

the

Peoria

Medical Society

and

the

illinois

State Medical

Society

in

opposing

the expansion of the Peoria

Disposal

Company’s [lararcious

Waste

Land

P1

at

Pottstnwn.

Moreover, we urge

the 1EPA

to helpus

protect the

health

oLPeoria Count

residents

by

addressing the cleanup of

the

closed,

unprotected “legacy’’

areas of

the

land fill which existed prior to RCRA regulatjons,

Sincerely.

(

,..,../

.1

an es McGee,

M .1).

(‘hair, Cancer Committee

.2()

.

is.

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(per

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Peoria

County

Peoria

County

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