Site tagged for cleanup: ComEd to replace soil at the former Dixon gas plant

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DIXON – ComEd is preparing to clean trace chemicals from an old Dixon gas plant. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has targeted the site because of hazardous coal byproducts.

Both ComEd and IEPA officials said the chemicals do not pose any immediate health risk to the surrounding air, soil or water, including the Rock River.

“At manufactured gas plants typically, ... there are no roots of exposure for the public to come into contact with these chemicals,” said Stanley Black, community response analyst for the IEPA. “There’s no hazard to the public, and as far as I understand, there’s no release to the river ... .”

The roughly 2.5 acre site is northwest of the Dixon ComEd Business office at 919 W. First Street.

It will undergo “typical earth moving construction” that will replace the soil there at depths roughly between 3 and 20 feet, said project manager John Griggs.

Griggs expects construction to start in late July or early August, and last about 2 months.

Allen W. Hatheway, a geological engineer and a lecturer for Geological Society of America and the Association of Engineering Geologists, said the plants’ pollutants far outlive their source.

“During the gas manufacture, tars were created and leaked, spilled or discharged to the environment,” Hatheway wrote. “These tars are not susceptible to natural degradation and therefore have lives that will extend into geologic time. Manufactured gas plant wastes do not go away.”

Much of the residual chemicals at the site are from coal, which was vaporized to produce manufactured gas used for lighting, cooking and heating before it was phased out beginning in 1941.

That was mainly due to the proliferation of natural gas, which alleviated smoke pollution for populated areas, according to the Economic History Services Web site. Hatheway said natural gas reserves also became easier to transport because of trans-national oil pipelines built as defense measures during World War II.

In addition to remnants of coal tar, Black said the ComEd property contains chemicals such as benzene, which is associated with gasoline releases, as well as arsenic and similar metal elements.

“The one we worry about the most is benzene,” Black said, since long-term exposure to benzene can lead to health problems like anemia and reproductive issues.

To pose a serious health risk, however, Black said someone would probably need to ingest traces of the soil there daily for decades. Although that’s unlikely to happen, the work is mandated in case the property takes on new uses and to prevent hazardous materials from spreading elsewhere.

“It’s always a good idea when these kinds of chemicals are found and they’re not actually controlled, it’s best ... to remove them so there won’t be a problem at some future point,” he said.

Since ComEd started environmental remediation projects in 1995, the company has restored 10 former, manufactured gas plants in Illinois, according to project manager Gail MacMillan. The Dixon site is one of 21 active restoration projects.

ComEd reports that the property is one of about 1,500 manufactured gas plants sites in the U.S., though Hatheway estimates that figure likely exceeds 52,000.

Although a cost for the project hasn’t been set, it will be paid for solely by ComEd. The money will come from the company’s “Environmental Cost Recovery Adjustment” fees, which are regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission and appear on all customers’ electric bills; An $85 electric bill carries an Environmental Cost Recovery Adjustment fee of roughly 12 cents.

About the gas plant

The Dixon plant, built in 1903, was owned by the Lee County Lighting Co. until 1913, when it changed its name to Illinois Northern Utilities. The plant manufactured its own gas until 1927, then was a receiving and storage site for manufactured and natural gas through 1951. It eventually was demolished.