R2015-24 EXECUTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT

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DEPARTMENT OF WATER MANAGEMENT Memorandum No. 2015-05 March 12, 2015 TO: Mayor Michael T. McElroy and City Council FROM: Gregg D. Zientara, Interim City Manager Wendy L. Morthland, Corporation Counsel Keith D. Alexander, Director of Water Management SUBJECT: Amendment to Intergovernmental Agreement- Mahomet Aquifer SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: City Council adopt the attached Resolution authorizing an Amendment to Intergovernmental Agreement Regarding the Clinton Landfill Permit Application to Accept Polychlorinated Biphenyls at a cost not to exceed $39,095.36. BACKGROUND: Clinton Landfill, Inc. (CLI) owns and operates a landfill located just south of Clinton and directly over the Mahomet Aquifer, a large groundwater resource supplying approximately 500,000 people with water in central Illinois. For the past few years CLI has been placing Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) and Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) waste in the landfill. These highly toxic substances may eventually leak out of the landfill and pollute the Mahomet Aquifer. In 2012, in order to prevent PCB and MGP waste from being placed in the landfill, the City entered into an intergovernmental agreement with several other central Illinois communities including Champaign, Urbana, Normal, Bloomington, Savoy, Champaign County and Piatt County. The City of Champaign is the Coalition's lead agency. Other communities that have recently joined the Coalition include Macon County, Forsyth, McLean County, Tuscola and Monticello. It is anticipated that the University of Illinois and Illinois American Water Company (a private water utility that supplies water to Champaign, Urbana and the University of Illinois)will also join soon. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) recently ruled that CLI must apply for local siting approval by the DeWitt County Board where the landfill is located. It is critical that expert legal and environmental firms be hired by the Coalition to convince the DeWitt County Board at the siting hearing that the toxic substances should not be allowed in the landfill. If the DeWitt County Board approves local siting for the landfill, the Coalition will hire the same expert legal and environmental firms for an administrative review (appeal) of the siting to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, which is the primary regulatory body for environmental issues in the state of Illinois.