Apr 16, 2009 10:25 am US/Central
Stimulus Funds To Help Clean Waukegan Toxic Site
Outboard Marine Site Has Been Contaminated With PCBs For More Decades
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) ―
Up to $25 million in stimulus funds will go toward turning a toxic Superfund site in Waukegan into a piece of land can be developed for residential use, officials announced.
Between $10 and $25 million in stimulus funds will go toward cleaning up the Outboard Marine Corporation Superfund site, adjacent to Illinois Beach State Park in Waukegan, the office of Gov. Pat Quinn announced Wednesday.
High levels of PCBs were discovered in sediments collected in Waukegan Harbor in 1981, and officials later discovered that the contamination was being caused by Outboard Marine Corporation, which at the time operated a plant along the lakefront in Waukegan.
Outboard Marine manufactured outboard motors, lawnmowers, industrial vehicle and turf-care vehicles at the plant, and had discharged hydraulic fluid contaminated with PCBs into floor drains and a drainage ditch that contaminated the surrounding soil, the governor's office recounted.
The Outboard Marine plant site was placed on the toxic Superfund list in 1983 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Actions have been taken since then to stabilize the Outboard site, including plans to demolish the shuttered Outboard Marine building and the excavation and disposal of all contaminated soil, according to the governor's office release.
With the stimulus money secured, that work will begin. Once the old Outboard Marine building is demolished and the soil is hauled off, the site will be redeveloped into a residential area, according to the governor's office.
"This is outstanding news for the city," Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde said in the news release. "This work will free up more than 60 acres of valuable lakefront property that otherwise would have remained unusable."
Both President Barack Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel were backers of a cleanup at the Outboard Motor Superfund site when they were serving in the U.S. Senate and House, respectively. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has also been a strong backer of a cleanup.
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