5th and Hill Information Session

A local environmental issue is getting renewed attention again this year with an information session for the community. The 5th and Hill cleanup site is still causing concerns for local residents who believe the cleanup is incomplete and the testing has been problematic. Further below is some background information and additional links. Latest update from the Daily Illini last week:

The Fifth and Hill community has been exposed to toxic chemicals for over a decade due to the toxic waste left behind from Ameren Corporation’s old manufacturing plant.

Now, student organizations, such as Black Students for Revolution and Students for Environmental Concerns, are trying to get the University more involved.

Dimitri Love, senior in LAS and Education and co-leader of BSFR, said one event the organization is holding is an information session on Nov. 21 about what exactly is going on at Fifth and Hill and how people are being poisoned.

BSFR and SECS also plan to hold fundraisers and start GoFundMe pages. The fundraising will help obtain radiation cards that test the indoor air in people’s homes and determine if there are any toxic chemicals in the area...

Ameren has a former manufactured gas plant at Fifth and Hill streets. Residents have been fighting to have Ameren clean up the site for the past 12 years because of the health risks it poses to people in the surrounding area. 

Full article available here. The issue was in local headlines earlier this year. Some background from the WCIA coverage at the time (with video segment here):

It goes all the way back to the 1800s when an Ameren site was on 5th and Hill streets. It left a lot of waste on the site. It left in 1953, but people are concerned what’s left over is dangerous.

The biggest concern right now is Ameren isn’t being as transparent as it needs to be. Ameren is required to post test results on the groundwater at the site four times a year.

Those results haven’t been posted to the website since 2015. Campaign leaders say they’re fighting for the rights of residents. They believe they have been kept in the dark.

City leaders say Ameren has finished its clean up. The groundwater is analyzed quarterly and analyzed by the EPA. Ameren is working with Illinois EPA regulations to clean up the site.

All the coal tar has been removed from the main site, but some people think the contamination has gone offsite.

Ameren representatives say the reason for the delay is a transition to a new consultant. They say they understand there’s been a gap in posting. They say their priority was collecting samples but didn’t realize they hadn’t posted them in a timely manner.

Full article and video segment here. WILL has a more comprehensive article from the same time here. The WILL article includes links to additional information from Ameren and Champaign County Health Care Consumers on the issue. November 21st information session event information here and below: