Champaign City Council meeting

Tuesday’s Champaign City Council meeting opened with a presentation by the Boys and Girls Club to the council in appreciation for their continued support. Andre Arrington, the executive director of the organization, specifically thanked the council for closing streets to accommodate the BAG tournament.

The council proceeded to approve all 10 resolutions on the agenda, including closing off roads to accommodate another BAG tournament and the Illinois Marathon.

“This is the first year and it’s already doubled in success off of the entries that we have,” Mayor Schweighart said of the marathon.

The Illinois Marathon will feature races of various lengths, including one designed especially for children.

Community representatives also informed the council that phase one of fundraising for statues in commemoration of police officers and firefighter was completed and they are beginning phase two. The Fire and Police Memorial Committee was also presented with a $5,000 donation.

During the audience participation portion of the meeting, Champaign County Health Care Consumers Executive Director Claudia Lennhoff brought the healthcare risk presented by Ameren’s delayed response to cleaning up the waste left by their operation in the community to the attention of the council.

The toxic waste, left over by the energy company’s operation in the area from the late 1800s until the mid 1900s, is contaminating the groundwater of a local neighborhood, Lennhoff said.

A recent test for benzene in the contaminated area found that instead of the safe five or fewer parts per billion level, the local water contained 1,000 parts per billion. Benzene and other chemicals released by the company, over periods of extended exposure, could result in cancer, reproductive and asthma issues, according to Lennhoff.

The affected neighborhood is located at Fifth and Hill, where Lennhoff says current and past residence report an increased number of illnesses that may be related.

The Fifth and Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign is organizing for the right of residents and former residents of the neighborhood affected by the toxic Ameren waste.

“Ameren, for the first time after all their reports and all their testing, identified large sections of the property that pose a threat because of vaporization of toxins,” Lennhoff said. “Vaporization means they have the risk of inhaling, exposure though inhalation.”

Lennhoff, a former resident of the neighborhood, said this concerns citizens because the homes are prone to flooding, possibly exposing residents to direct contact with contaminated groundwater.

There were also reports that the company dumped toxic waste from coal tar into the Boneyard Creek in the 1920s.

In 2007, an ordinance was passed by the city council which Ameren is now using to claim that they can’t be responsible for the cleanup.

“Really this is what amounts to an administrative slight of hand that allows Ameren to have the appearance of addressing contaminated ground water,” Lennhoff said.

“On the surface it seems benign, it basically says that where there’s been contamination, people will not be allowed to put in wells for potable purposes, which is like drinking,” Lennhoff added.

Ameren will be hosting an open house at Champaign’s City Hall chambers March 11 to discuss the cleanup efforts that are to begin later this month. The company listed the site with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as a contaminated location approximately 20 years ago.

Lenhoff encouraged council members to attend the open house and pose questions to Ameren representatives.

“I hope that all of you will attend this session and I also hope that the session will be recorded and broadcast for the benefit of the community because I think there is important information that will hopefully be reported,” Lenhoff said.