&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
For more information
For more information about the
Ellsworth Industrial Park site,
please contact:
Mike Joyce
Community Involvement
Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs (P-19J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
(800) 621-8431 Ext. 35546,
weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
joyce.mike@epa.gov
Mazin Enwiya
Remedial Project Manager
Office of Superfund (SR-6J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
(800) 621-8431, Ext. 38414,
weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
enwiya.mazin@epa.gov
Carol L. Fuller
Community Relations Coordinator
Illinois EPA
P.O. Box 19276, MC#5
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
(217) 524-8807
carol.fuller@epa. state.il.us
Field Work Begins
On Cleanup Investigation
Ellsworth Industrial Park
Downers Grove, Illinois
October 2006
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun field work this fall for
a remedial investigation and feasibility study of the Ellsworth Industrial
Park site. A remedial investigation involves gathering soil and water
samples to determine what hazardous substances are present, how much
there is and where it is located. A feasibility study is an evaluation of
alternatives for cleaning up the hazardous substances. The remedial
investigation and feasibility study combined may take 12 to 18 months to
complete. At this time, the Agency is developing a formal work plan to
conduct the remedial investigation.
Field work may last roughly three months and will be documented in a
remedial investigation report. A group of parties potentially responsible
for the pollution agreed to pay up to $1 million to EPA toward the cost
of conducting the remedial investigation.
Last spring, EPA's contractor prepared a document called a
Preliminary Planning Report. This report summarizes the work for
the upcoming remedial investigation and feasibility study for the site:
• necessary planning activities before field work can begin;
The Ellsworth Industrial Park consists of about 135 light industry and
commercial businesses. Many of those businesses are not contaminated with
organic solvents and are not part of the investigation or cleanup activities.
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• investigation activities that detail the
sampling and monitoring efforts; and
• required reports that describe the nature and
extent of the pollution and evaluate
alternatives to clean up the site.
The following three sections provide a general
overview of the Preliminary Planning Report.
Planning activities
Planning includes developing a site management
plan, health and safety plan, and a sampling and
analysis plan. The site management plan reviews
how site access, site security and waste disposal from
sampling activities will be handled. The plan also
includes procedures and safeguards used to control
contaminants encountered during the field work.
A health and safety plan complies with U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
regulations for those working on the project. This
includes employee training, personal protective
equipment, medical monitoring, and standard
operating procedures. This plan also addresses health
and safety requirements for site visitors.
A sampling and analysis plan defines the sampling
and data collection methods to be used for the
investigation. This plan will include sampling
objectives, sampling locations and frequency and
sample handling and analysis. It will include plans
for quality assurance, field sampling and data
management.
Investigation activities
Field work and investigation activities range from
mobilizing personnel and equipment to data
validation. The Preliminary Planning Report also
includes the following plans to locate and identify
contaminants.
• Utility corridor survey - This survey targets
sump, sand and grease traps to evaluate
potential sources and releases of pollution that
may have not been previously identified.
• Sub-slab monitoring - Monitoring underneath
building slabs or basement floors will be
conducted.
• Soil sampling - Collecting and analyzing soil
samples will identify potential sources of
contamination and select places for additional
soil borings and monitoring wells.
• Ground-water investigations - Installation of
monitoring wells will allow underground
water samples to be collected and analyzed.
Monitoring wells will be installed into
bedrock.
Reports
In addition to the formal work plan to conduct the
remedial investigation, six reports will be prepared
within the investigation and feasibility study process:
• Data evaluation report - Evaluates and
presents the results of soil and ground-water
sampling efforts.
• Human health risk assessment - Determines
whether site contaminants pose a current or
potential risk to human health and the
environment in the absence of any cleanup
action.
• Ecological (plants and wildlife) risk
assessment - The site will first undergo a
process to determine if an ecological risk
assessment is required. If needed, this
assessment will study area plants and animals
and their environment.
• Remedial investigation report - This report
identifies specific contaminants, estimates
how much pollution was found, and
determines where the hazardous substances
were located.
• Remedial alternatives technical memorandum -
Lists a range of cleanup alternatives that will
be evaluated in the feasibility study.
• Feasibility study - Details the evaluation of
cleanup alternatives against EPA criteria for
selecting a plan.
Once finalized, each report will be made available to
the public by placing it in the site information
repository located at the Downers Grove Public
Library.
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Legal agreements
In 2005, EPA and a group of parties potentially
responsible for the pollution entered into a legal
agreement in which those parties agreed to pay EPA to
conduct the remedial investigation and feasibility
study. The group is current or past owners and
operators of properties at the industrial park.
Business operations at these industrial properties are
believed to have used solvents (cleaning agents for oil
and grease), and chemical releases have been detected
or are suspected at those properties.
EPA and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
identified three chemicals of primary concern in
preliminary soil and ground-water sampling at the
industrial park and in wells downhill from the site:
TCE (trichloroethylene), PCE (tetrachloroethylene)
and TCA (1,1,1-trichloroethane).
In 2003, a group of potentially responsible parties,
including many of the members of the current group,
entered into an agreement known as an Administrative
Order of Consent with EPA to repay loans to the
village of Downers Grove for up to $4.3 million to
connect about 800 residences south and east of the
industrial park to a public drinking water supply.
Site history
In the spring of 2001, Illinois EPA was investigating
the ground water at the Lockformer site in Lisle, 111.,
located west of the Ellsworth Industrial Park. As part
of the Lockformer investigation, Illinois EPA collected
samples from private wells of residences from the east
side of 1-355. Results of samples from these private
wells showed contamination different from that found
at the Lockformer site. Illinois EPA then initiated a
separate investigation in the Downers Grove area.
Illinois EPA sampled around 160 private wells in
July 2001. The results of this round of sampling
showed contamination of PCE and TCE. Some wells
had PCE or TCE contamination above federal
drinking water standards.
In September 2001, Illinois EPA collected an
additional 169 well samples in unincorporated
Downers Grove, primarily south of Maple Avenue
and east of Belmont Road. Results of some of these
samples also showed pollution levels above federal
drinking water standards.
To better define the extent of contamination, more
samples were collected in October and November
2001 and January 2002. At that time EPA became
involved in the ground-water investigation. EPA and
Illinois EPA also collected soil and ground-water
samples from locations in Ellsworth Industrial Park.
In October 2002, EPA, in coordination with the state
of Illinois, sent special notice letters to 19 businesses
at the industrial park requesting they enter into
negotiations to investigate and address the park's soil
and area ground-water contamination.
In November 2002, the Illinois Department of Public
Health, in cooperation with U.S. Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry issued a public
health assessment for the ground-water investigation.
The assessment concluded exposure to the
contaminated ground water was a public health
hazard.
Water connections to the 800 homes near the industrial
park began in the fall of 2003 and were completed in
spring 2004.
In 2003 and 2004, EPA conducted initial studies of
the area to determine ground-water properties,
distribution and flow direction.
Community involvement
EPA and Illinois EPA worked together to assist area
residents in organizing an advisory group to interact
with area residents and government agencies about the
contamination and the industrial park. In 2002, a
Community Advisory Group was formed and initial
membership consisted of hundreds of individuals
representing more than 300 homes.
In 2003, EPA visited with 64 area residents and
Downers Grove public officials to discuss their
concerns regarding the ongoing environmental
activities in Ellsworth Industrial Park. Based on these
community interviews, EPA created a document
known as a community involvement plan. EPA and
Illinois EPA also participated in public meetings.
EPA will provide community involvement activities
for the public to share information about the progress
of the remedial investigation and feasibility study.
These activities may include public meetings, fact
sheets and news releases.
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v=/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Agency
Region 5
Office of Public Affairs (P-19J)
77 W.Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
ELLSWORTH INDUSTRIAL PARK:
Field Work Begins on Cleanup Investigation
Reproduced on Recycled Paper
Information library
An official government information repository is a
file for public review containing documents about the
Ellsworth Industrial Park site and the Superfund
program. The Ellsworth Industrial Park information
repository is located in the reference section of the:
Downers Grove Public Library
1050 Curtiss Road
An administrative record, which contains all of the
information upon which the selection of a cleanup
plan is based, is available to the public at the
Downers Grove library and at the EPA Region 5
records center. The records center is located on the
seventh floor of 77 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago.
The records center is open Monday - Friday from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center's phone number is (312)
886-0900.
On the Web
This fact sheet and other site information can be
found on this EPA Web site:
www.epa.gov/region5/sites/ellsworth
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