R2015-103 APPROVING A CONSENT ORDER TO SETTLE ALL CLAIMS IN A CITIZENS' COMPLAINT

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tomorrow is not the reality of groundwater contamination. Starting on page 48, is a list of 66 different groundwater wells. Per paragraph 18, on page 60, there is quarterly sampling required. For some additional chemicals, sampling is semiannual. QUESTION: What if CLI begins to accept coal ash? ANSWER: Coal ash is the residue from the combustion of coal, primarily by electric utilities. Coal ash is regulated in Illinois as a non-hazardous special waste. As such, it is legal to accept such waste material in a conventional municipal solid waste landfill. CLI's Landfill #3 was granted local siting approval by the DeWitt County Board in 2002 and subsequently issued a permit by the IEPA to operate as such facility without any of the procedural irregularities associated with operation of the portion of the landfill now devoted to the chemical waste unit. Accordingly, CLI can lawfully accept coal ash even in portions of the landfill that are outside of the chemical waste unit. Even if the Coalition is successful with its Citizen's Complaint, CLI will be able to accept this substance for disposal at its landfill. The harmful effects of coal ash on the environment have received heightened public attention in the past several years. Coal ash is known to contain a number of substances that are hazardous to human health, including arsenic, selenium, and mercury. A number of environmental organizations have actively lobbied the USEPA to reclassify coal ash as a hazardous waste, which would require it to be disposed of in a properly designed and permitted hazardous waste landfill. The USEPA declined to do so, leaving it to the various states to determine if they wished to impose more stringent restrictions on disposal of coal ash. The fact remains,however, that current law in Illinois allows CLI to accept this material at its facility in DeWitt County. Coal ash has been accepted at numerous municipal solid waste landfills throughout the state for a number of years now. It would be illogical to reject this proposed consent decree based upon CLI's plan to lawfully dispose of this material at their facility. In addition, as previously mentioned, the chemical waste unit is actually designed and constructed to hazardous landfill standards. 4UESTION: Was any additional testing, other than the "general" semi-annual testing required, added by the decree? ANSWER: The Consent Order does not add any new sampling requirements. It includes some of the chemical waste unit sampling requirements from page 58 of the IEPA permit for the site. Groundwater monitoring starts on pages 47 - 62; section VIII. That is 15 pages of groundwater monitoring requirements. See http://www.epa.state.il.us/communitv-relations/fact-sheets/clinton-3/permit- modification-2014-07-31.pdf QUESTION: If the 12" of"clayey" material is to virtually eliminate any "new" water from entering the toxic MGP waste, is there any frequent testing required of the leachate collected out of the bottom of the landfill?