Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Research Articles

Data to improve air quality environmental justice outcomes in South Chicago.

This brief provides data for policy changes on the intersection of polluting industrial facilities, marginalized communities, and the dearth of air-quality monitors in those communities of South Chicago. The allocation of air-quality monitors is determined by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Our data demonstrate that the air quality and subsequent health of Chicago's marginalized communities are chronically threatened by the expansion of polluting industries coupled with inadequate air-quality monitoring. The methods of data analysis presented here can be similarly applied to analyze air-quality disparities in communities beyond Chicago, including those that have been victims of environmental injustice stemming from redlining. Such data can be used to support Environmental Justice (EJ) advocacy and goals by informing remedial actions and policies of regulatory bodies, such as the IEPA, to reduce disproportionate air-quality burdens through increased monitoring. The generated maps may be used to direct plans for assessing and mitigating the effects of air pollution on human health.

Pharmaceutical Waste Management-An Overview

Pharmaceutical pollution doesn't seem to be harming humans yet, but disturbing clues from aquatic life suggest now is the time for preventive action. Generally water system are monitored for nearly 80 harmful substances and prohibited nastiest include bacteria, viruses, strong acids, pesticides, and some metals. Waste pharmaceuticals include a wide variety of items, including over-the-counter and prescription medications. The main way drug residues enter water systems is by people taking medicines and then naturally passing them through their bodies. These wastes come in the form of solid pills and capsules, creams, liquids and aerosols. Many pharmaceuticals intended for pets are similar or identical to those prescribed to humans and should be treated exactly the same metals. Sources of Pharmaceutical waste included health care institute, Agriculture, Flushing medications down to the toilets etc. These entities are affected by environment and by human beings. In human exposure to pharmaceutical and personal care product from environmental complex function of factors including concentration, types, pharmacokinetic of each drugs etc. Environmental effect on feminising effect on male fish and alter female-to mal ratio. When the pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCPs) are active at very low concentrations and released continuously in large or widespread quantities Then Disposal of unused or unwanted pharmaceuticals is an emerging and complex environmental issue. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is working with various stakeholders to find convenient and environmentally responsible ways for residents to manage waste pharmaceuticals. Dispose to pharmaceutical waste by do not flush your medicines down the toilet or down the drain. And dispose to potentially dangerous medications.

Sensitivity Analysis of Annual Nitrate Loads and the Corresponding Trends in the Lower Illinois River

Riverine nutrient concentrations and loads in the Midwestern United States have been identified as a major source of nutrients for the Mississippi River, causing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. The Illinois River is one of the major contributors of nutrients to the Mississippi River, draining more than 40% of Illinois and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin. The main goals of this study were to calculate annual average nitrate concentration and annual total loads in the Lower Illinois River and its tributaries for 1975–2010, and to determine how the selection of different approaches affects the calculated trends. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has been collecting surface water quality data in Illinois since the early 1970s. This study used nitrite-N+nitrate-N (NO2+NO3) samples provided by IEPA and collected from the Illinois River at Havana and Valley City, Sangamon River at Oakford, and La Moine River at Ripley for the period 1975 to 2010. Discharge data concurrent with routine water quality samples were applied to a suite of approaches to estimate daily concentration and load for the period of analysis, including the seven-parameter regression equation along with several modeling residual adjustment techniques and the weighted regression on time, discharge, and season (WRTDS) method. The calculated annual mean concentration and annual total loads for NO2+NO3 for the period of record were discussed in relation to different approaches.

Modeling evaluation of integrated strategies to meet proposed dissolved oxygen standards for the Chicago waterway system

The Chicago Waterway System (CWS) is a 113.8 km branching network of navigable waterways controlled by hydraulic structures in which the majority of flow is treated sewage effluent and there are periods of substantial combined sewer overflow. The Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) designated the majority of the CWS as Secondary Contact and Indigenous Aquatic Life Use waters in the 1970s and made small alterations to these designations in 1988. Between 1988 and 2002 substantial improvements in the pollution control and water-quality management facilities were made in the Chicago area. The results of a Use Attainability Analysis led the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to propose the division of the CWS into two new aquatic life use classes with appropriate dissolved oxygen (DO) standards. To aid the IPCB in their deliberations regarding the appropriate water use classifications and DO standards for the CWS, the DUFLOW model that is capable of simulating hydraulics and water-quality processes under unsteady-flow conditions was used to evaluate integrated strategies of water-quality improvement facilities that could meet the proposed DO standards during representative wet (2001) and dry (2003) years. A total of 28 new supplementary aeration stations with a maximum DO load of 80 or 100 g/s and aerated flow transfers at three locations in the CWS would be needed to achieve the IEPA proposed DO standards 100% of the time for both years. A much simpler and less costly (≈one tenth of the cost) system of facilities would be needed to meet the IEPA proposed DO standards 90% of the time. In theory, the combinations of flow augmentation and new supplemental aeration stations can achieve 100% compliance with the IEPA proposed DO standards, however, 100% compliance will be hard to achieve in practice because of—(1) difficulties in determining when to turn on the aeration stations and (2) localized heavy loads of pollutants during storms that may yield violations of the DO standards even with an extensive network of supplemental aeration stations. Thus, because absolute DO standards that must be met 100% of the time will be difficult, if not impossible to comply with, DO standards that include a Wet Weather Limited Use (WWLU) designation based on rainfall amount triggering CSO events and a maximum duration that the WWLU could be applied should be considered to obtain a healthy ecosystem by applying water-quality improvement features that can be practically operated and maintained. Such a WWLU approach also was evaluated in this paper.

Protocol for Large-scale Monitoring of Riparian-Associated Mammals

The design of large-scale wildlife monitoring programs must include long term and geographically broad methods of collecting reliable information on the status and trends in populations, with the overarching goal of providing inference about ecosystem health. We developed a monitoring protocol for populations of beaver (Castor canadensis), American mink (Neovison vison), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), and North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) in Illinois, USA. The goals of the monitoring program are to (1) determine the distribution, status and trends of riparian-associated mammal species in Illinois; (2) provide early warning of population declines; (3) contribute to baseline information and improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics; (4) produce data to meet certain legal mandates related to natural resource protection; and (5) measure progress towards wildlife management goals. We developed the riparian-associated mammal protocol in an occupancy modeling framework and provide estimates regarding 2 levels of precision. The estimated number of sites required to meet benchmark precision values was consistently 4 times greater for management objectives requiring more certainty. As estimated occupancy and detection probability increased, estimates of the number of sites necessary to achieve the desired precision decreased. Based on our analysis, goals, and logistical constraints of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, monitoring 193 sites selected from Illinois Environmental Protection Agency river and stream monitoring sites for riparian-associated mammals is the most appropriate goal. The scientifically sound information obtained through this monitoring program will have multiple applications for wildlife management and understanding of riparian ecosystem dynamics.

The Role of Illinois and the Midwest in Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change

In July and September 2007, the Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group (ICCAG) with a diverse membership of thirty-nine, voted to recommend twenty-four strategies that professional air modeling had indicated would achieve a goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Illinois to 1990 levels by 2020. The votes followed several months of policy discussions by subgroups. That work and process became a benchmark for Illinois' participation as one of the six heartland states (1)--along with the Canadian province of Manitoba--to sign the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord (MGA) on November 15, 2007. Many of the principles and strategies evaluated by the ICCAG were similar to those included in the multistate Midwestern accord. Unlike the process in Illinois, the MGA did not set initial GHG target reductions and timeframes but rather said they should be consistent with states' targets. MGA also established work groups and a policy evaluation process very similar to what Illinois had worked through earlier, including hiring the same global energy and consulting firm, ICF International, to model the impact of various potential reduction strategies. Thus, in many ways the transition from a state focus to a regional one was quite seamless for Illinois. Prior and subsequent to the work of the ICCAG and the MGA, Illinois had also been participating in the climate change policy discussions of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), which represents state environmental agencies and whose Air Committee I chaired the past two years, as well as other national and regional groups. In addition, the Illinois state government was only the second, after New Mexico, to join the Chicago Climate Exchange and pledge GHG emission reductions from state buildings and vehicle fleets. Illinois was also one of the founding members of the Climate Registry, of which I am Vice President, which now includes forty-one states, twelve Canadian provinces, six Mexican states and four Native American tribes, in establishing a framework for reporting on and establishing an inventory of GHG emissions from both the public and private sector. More recently, in November 2008, Illinois participated in the Governor's Global Climate Summit hosted by Governor Schwarzenegger of California, and previously, in a summit of states hosted by Yale University. The collaborative efforts also build upon and complement a number of steps that Illinois has already taken on the state level to reduce GHGs. They include a comprehensive energy plan that included adoption of a renewable energy portfolio in 2007 that requires utilities to supply at least 25 percent of their power from wind and other renewable energy sources by 2025, additional investments in biodiesel production and delivery, and expansion of wind power through tools such as a model agreement to purchase wind power credits sufficient to provide electricity to more than 150 state facilities. One of the more innovative strategies is a proposal for a pipeline to help capture carbon dioxide emissions from new coal gasification plants. My agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, permitted one of the first carbon sequestration efforts for an industrial facility in the nation, an underground injection well that is currently being drilled, and has previously permitted a coal gasification plant that has carbon sequestration capabilities. The State has also been a leader on the FutureGen project, a US Department of Energy endeavor to build a near-zero-emission coal plant. Illinois was chosen as the preferred site, and it is hoped that money in the federal stimulus plan will be used to revive and continue the project. In addition, in January 2006, the Illinois Climate Change Initiative was launched in partnership with the Chicago Climate Exchange and the Delta Institute. Farmers and other landowners were recruited to adopt conservation practices, such as no-till, forestation and using methane digesters in livestock operations to help reduce carbon dioxide (C[O. …

Zapping Bacteria to Elude the Boiling Point

This article discusses a project where the village of Manteno, Illinois, initiated a boil‐water order when a routine distribution system sample indicated total and fecal coliform bacteria. It was determined that Manteno's aquifer was under the direct influence of surface water and not in compliance with the applicable regulations. As a result, Manteno agreed to either add filtration to its water treatment process or obtain an alternate water supply. The article lists several drawbacks that required a different interim water treatment plan to address these difficulties. It was determined that the most effective method would be the addition of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection ahead of the chlorination process at each wellhouse. Pilot testing plans and results are discussed, along with design and construction, and the good working relationship among Manteno, the consultants, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

NITRATE CONCENTRATIONS IN ILLINOIS RIVERS 1967 TO 1974: COMPARISON AMONG REPORTING AGENCIES1

ABSTRACT: Long term data on surface water quality can sometimes be assembled by combining data collected by different agencies at different times and assuming that between agency differences in data quality are insignificant. The objective of this paper was to assess the quality of riverine nitrate (NO3) concentrations in Illinois measured and reported by four agencies from 1967 to 1974 by comparing median values for similar sampling locations and periods. A total of 17 river reaches were identified for which two agencies reported NO3 concentrations during similar periods. Nonparametric comparison of median values and analysis of covariance with discharge as a covariant produced similar results. Nitrate concentrations reported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from 1967 to 1971 were not statistically (P > 0.05) different from values reported by the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) for two of three river reaches. Additionally, NO3 concentrations reported by USGS from 1972 to 1974 were not statistically different than concentrations reported by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for four of five river reaches. From 1969 to 1971, NO3 concentrations reported by the Illinois Department of Public Heath and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IDPH/IEPA) were less than one‐fourth the magnitude of values reported by ISWS. The median NO3 concentrations measured by the Central Illinois Public Service (CIPS) were significantly greater than those measured by USGS and IDPH/IEPA in the three comparable sampling locations. The use of NO3 concentrations measured by CIPS and IDPH/IEPA prior to 1972 is not recommended.

Evaluating the implementation of cleaner production audit demonstration projects

Cleaner production audit demonstration projects were carried out in two Chinese case factories as part of a project co-sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and China's State Environmental Protection Administration. Audit results at both factories were characterized by implementation of predominantly low- or no-cost options, notable reductions in water pollution, and incomplete financial benefit analyses. Two reasons explain the financial benefit analyses' apparent weakness. First, factory audit teams were inexperienced in the techniques and procedures used to determine the economic benefits of cleaner production options. Second, motivations project personnel had for participating in the demonstration projects were not centered on attaining the monetary benefits of implementing cleaner production. Instead, other factors related to the international nature of the project, such as a high degree of state level oversight and prestige, were more influential in affecting the behavior of project personnel.

A local solution to superfund clean‐up: The southeast rockford site

AbstractOn January 13, 1999 a consent decree was signed for the first community settlement ever successfully negotiated for a Superfund site. The 10‐square mile groundwater study zone in Rockford, Illinois, is only 20 percent of the area of the city, but represents 60 percent of its industrial capacity. Local government and business leaders took the initiative to negotiate a community‐based settlement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and find financing mechanisms that citizens could back.Rockford dodged the Superfund bullet that has ripped apart so many other communities as bank loans dry up, development ceases, local taxes plunge along with property values, the local economy stagnates, and neighbor is pitted against neighbor in a litigation war.

Water Company Fined

McHenry Shores Water Co., a public company, supplies water to several hundred residents of McHenry, Ill. A routine on‐site inspection of the McHenry water system showed numerous violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Act, including an insufficient number of hydrants to adequately flush the system, failure to submit sufficient raw water samples for bacteriological testing, not complying with the testing and reporting requirements for fluoride and chlorine concentrations, and lack of a cross‐connection contamination ordinance and survey. The inspection was followed up with an enforcement letter giving McHenry seven days to respond. No response was received. Subsequently, residents served by McHenry held a meeting complaining that their water was discolored and smelled bad. McHenry began to remedy the violations, but the changes were insufficient. The state then filed an 11‐count complaint against McHenry. The trial court found the city liable on seven of the counts and imposed civil penalties of $85,000 but allowed McHenry six months to remedy the violations. In a subsequent hearing, the trial court reduced the penalties to $25,000. On appeal, McHenry argued that if the water supply posed a real threat to human health then the trial court should have issued a temporary restraining order shutting it down. But the appellate court said that the trial court could have reasonably concluded that the public health risk posed by not having any water at all was greater than the risk posed by consuming the water provided by McHenry. The court said that although the water was often discolored, cloudy, and had a foul odor, there was no evidence that it posed a direct health hazard beyond mere discomfort or unpleasantness. The trial court decision was affirmed.

Night of the Sirens: Analysis of Carbon Monoxide-Detector Experience in Suburban Chicago

Study Objective: To determine the pattern and environmental causes of carbon monoxide (CO)–detector alarms. Methods: Data including time, location, detector manufacturer, CO measurements in the home, reported illness, cause, and actions taken were collected between July 15, 1994, and January 26, 1995, on all calls to 17 suburban Chicago fire departments for CO-detector alarms. We used univariate time-series analysis involving joint estimation of model parameters and outlier effects to analyze data and compared data on ambient CO levels from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to the number of calls per day. Results: During the study period, 777 calls for sounding CO detectors were made to the fire departments in question. The median number of calls per day was three. Our univariate time series identified 3 days with a significant excess of calls (December 12, 29 calls; December 21, 69; December 22, 128; P<.001). The average ambient CO readings on these days were 0.99, 3.25, and 3.89 ppm, respectively, compared with an overall mean of 0.8 ppm. In-home CO levels among all 828 measurements taken from the 777 domestic calls ranged from 0 to 425 ppm, 0 in 249 (30%), 1 to 10 in 340 (41%), 11 to 50 in 149 (18%), 51 to 100 in 22 (9%), and more than 100 in 11 (1.3%). No measurement was taken in six cases. Cause of alarm was listed as furnace in 25 cases, auto exhaust in 24, stove/oven in 22, poor location of detector in 14, water heater in 11, outside sources in 7, and multiple sources in 7. Other sources accounted for fewer than 1% each. The participating fire departments considered 242 cases (31%) to be false alarms. Cause was not determined in 400 calls (51%). In 37 calls (4.8%), people reported illness. Conclusion: Above-average ambient CO levels coincided with a significant increase in the number of calls and may have contributed to the triggering of CO alarms. [Bizovi KE, Leikin JB, Hryhorczuk DO, Frateschi LJ: Night of the sirens: Analysis of carbon monoxide–detector experience in suburban Chicago. Ann Emerg Med June 1998;31:737-740.]

Fluidized-bed incineration of solid pellets: Combustion and co-combustion

The UIC experimental facility for combustion of materials in a fluidized-bed combustor is described. The combustion and co-combustion studies made in a heated inert bed, of wood, refuse-derived fuel, peanut-hull, paper, cellulose and cardboard pellets are reviewed and discussed. Coal and propane are used as auxiliary fuels. The investigations cover a range of gas velocities, combustion temperatures, fractional excess air values and solid pellet feed rates. The emission of carbon monoxide in the flue gas is monitored, and for most conditions, its value is well within the limit set by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The carbon combustion efficiency values are found to be quite high, 99.8 + percent, validating the thermal degradation capability of the fluidized-bed incinerator. Further, the thermal combustion efficiencies are also equally high, which reinforces the concept of waste to energy generation.

Risk-Based Cleanup Objectives, Land Use, and Transportation

Land use has always been a factor in developing site-specific cleanup objectives for contaminated property. However, land use is taking on major new significance in the “brownfield” legislation being enacted in a growing number of states. Under this method, a tiered approach is used to analyze the risk posed by contaminants and to derive cleanup objectives based on that risk. By many accounts on the leading edge of the brownfield movement, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is going so far as to propose a tiered approach to cleanup objectives (TACO) generally across its land pollution programs. TACO relies heavily on restricting land use to obtain less stringent cleanup objectives, and it is this aspect of TACO that represents both an opportunity and a challenge to Illinois transportation agencies and the shape of things to come nationally. The opportunity lies in much lower cleanup costs that these agencies will incur in dealing with contamination in their own yards and rights-of-way. The challenge lies in considering requests from property owners adjoining the rights-of-way for land use restrictions on the rights-of-way, in dealing with land use restrictions on property acquired through eminent domain, and in processing land use restrictions that will be imposed for IEPA’s own cleanups.

Co-combustion and fluidized-bed incineration of cellulose pellets

Co-combustion of cellulose pellets with propane gas as an auxiliary fuel is investigated in the University of Illinois fluidized-bed incinerator. The incineration phenomenon is examined as a function of the operating parameters which are the pellet and propane-gas feed rates, bed temperature, superficial gas fluidizing velocity, and fractional excess air. Carbon and thermal combustion efficiencies are computed from the relations which have been developed on the basis of carbon and thermal energy balances together with the knowledge of propane and cellulose pellet feed rates and the composition of the flue gas. Emission of CO for optimum combustion conditions is always found to be well within the limit set by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Optimum operating conditions are established for the incineration process.

Health impact of a proposed waste-to-energy facility in Illinois.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has given the Robbins Resource Recovery Company (RRRC) a permit to construct a Regional Pollution Control Facility in Robbins, Illinois. Site approval for this waste-to-energy (WTE) combustor has been granted by the Village of Robbins which is located about three miles south of Chicago. The facility is designed to operate continuously for 40-45 years, process 1600 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day, and produce over 50 megawatts of electricity. Refuse derived fuel (RDF) will constitute essentially 100% of the operating fuel. The fuel preparation system is designed to recover 25% (by weight) of the MSW in the form of recyclable materials (ferrous, aluminum cans, glass, and compostables). Also, appliances, electronic equipment, household batteries, and lead-acid vehicle batteries will be removed. The air pollution control system for the two circulating fluidized bed combustors has been characterized by the USEPA and the IEPA as Best Available Control Technology (BACT) based on the following components: selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) to control nitrogen oxide emissions and dry flue gas scrubber (spray dryer absorber) and fabric filter baghouse to control emissions of acid gases (mainly hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide), particulates, and metals. In addition, activated carbonmore » injection will be used to control mercury emissions (RRRC, 1992). 10 refs., 3 tabs.« less

Fluidized-bed incineration of paper pellets

Co-combustion of paper pellets and propane gas has been investigated in inert fluidized-beds of silica and alumina particles in the temperature range 1055–1289 K. Forty-eight combustion runs have been conducted to establish the influence of such operating parameters as the fuel feed rate, bed temperature, superficial fluidizing gas velocity, and excess air values on carbon combustion and thermal combustion efficiencies. These combustion efficiencies have been computed on the basis of mass and energy balance relations and, in addition, require the knowledge of air and fuel feed rates together with their flue gas compositions. The quality of the bed fluidization is characterized on the basis of pressure-drop fluctuation history records which are employed to compute several statistical functions, such as standard deviation, probability density function, skewness, kurtosis, autocorrelation function, and power spectral density function. The optimum conditions for incineration have been identified, and carbon monoxide emission from the incinerator is always found to be well within the limit set by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Assessing Defined‐Substrate Technology for Meeting Monitoring Requirements of the Total Coliform Rule

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for drinking water analyses for approximately 2,200 public water utilities serving more than half the state's population. The recently developed defined‐substrate technology (DST, commercially known as Colilert), which simultaneously enumerates both total coliforms and Escherichia coli and does not require confirmatory tests, was compared in this geographic area with the membrane filter (MF) procedure from Standard Methods. Overall, there were no differences between MF and DST. Subcultures of positive DST tubes demonstrated this technology's specificity. Yellow (total coliform–positive) tubes yielded species consistent with total coliforms, and fluorescent (E. coli–positive) tubes contained E. coli. The DST system was easy to use and is compatible with new drinking water regulations that will increase monitoring and resampling requirements, mandate a fecal indicator (either an E. coli or fecal coliform analysis), and use a maximum contaminant level in the frequency‐of‐occurrence mode. DST also has several important advantages for state regulators, including its ability to help utilities comply with new transportation and storage requirements.

Case Study: The Lake Springfield Sediment Removal Project

ABSTRACT Lake Springfield is a 1,635 hectare reservoir located in central Illinois. The lake is important to the City of Springfield since it serves as a cooling lake for two municipal coal-fired power plants and is the chief water supply source for the area. Accumulation of 13 million cubic yards of sediment in the upper reaches of the lake threatened its adequacy to meet the City's future water supply requirements. Moreover, effects of agricultural runoff into the lake reduced recreational opportunities and contaminated several species of fish to the extent that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) issued an advisory limiting their consumption. As a result, a three-phase, $9 million lake rehabilitation project was initiated consisting of shoreline stabilization, watershed soil conservation, and sediment removal. The major portion of the project required hydraulic removal of nearly 2.7 million cubic yards of sediment from the upper reaches of the lake. Unexpectedly, the possibly toxic natu...

Metro Chicago's Sludge Management Plan

The present sludge management plan of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago is referred to as the “Dry Solids Program.” This nrogram meets the criteria for being environmentally acceptable and cost-effective. The program includes several unique unit operations in what would otherwise be considered a conventional sludge processing train that consists of thickening, stabilization, dewatering, and drying. Among the unique unit operations are thickening the raw sludge by centrifugation, thickening ana dewatering the stabilized sludge in centrifuges or lagoons, atmospheric air drying of the dewatered sludge on paved surfaces, and continuous use of mechanical agitating equipment during the drying season to enhance the atmospheric drying rate of the sludge. Final disposal of air-dried sludge is administered under a “Controlled Distribution” permit issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. End usages of the air-dried sludge include: landfill cover; soil conditioner/fertilizer for sod farms, tree nurseries, golf courses, and highway right-of-ways; and land reclamation work.