MIG/DeWane Landfill: Fact Sheet

              MIG/DeWane Landfill
Fact Sheet
January 2006
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Proposed Consent Decree
MIG/DeWane Landfill
Belvidere, Illinois
On January 4, 2006, the State of Illinois lodged a
proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court
for the Northern District in Illinois regarding the
MIG/DeWane Landfill in Belvidere.
What is the content of the
consent decree?
Without admitting liability, the defendants have
agreed:
􀁺􇩴 to design and implement the remedy for the
landfill that was designated in the 2000
Record of Decision (ROD), (the accompanying
fact sheet summarizes the ROD),
􀁺􇩴 to reimburse the state for pasts costs it has
incurred at the site,
􀁺􇩴 to pay the state for future costs including
oversight of work conducted by the
defendants and
􀁺􇩴 to not sue the state for any costs relating to
the site.
Who are the defendants listed in
the consent decree?
The defendants are BFI Waste Systems of North
America, Inc. , five past and present owners and
88 former customers of the landfill including
municipalities and manufacturers.
May I comment on the proposed
consent decree?
Yes. The public may send written comments on the
proposed consent decree to Gerald T. Karr, Senior
Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Illinois
Attorney General, Environmental Bureau, 188 West
Randolph Street, 20th Floor, Chicago, Illinois
60601. Comments must be postmarked by
February 21, 2006 and should refer to The State of
Illinois v. BFI Waste Systems of North America,
Inc. , et. al.
What is the MIG/DeWane
Landfill?
The MIG/DeWane landfill is located in Boone
County approximately one-quarter mile east of
the City of Belvidere and one-half mile north of
U.S. Business Route 20.
Between 1969 and 1988, the 47-acre landfill
received general refuse and industrial wastes
including paint sludge, volatile organic chemicals,
asbestos and liquids containing heavy metals.
The site was not properly closed and capped,
resulting in a 5 to 10-acre depression in the
middle of the landfill. This depression collected
water, which drained into the landfill, resulting in
over one hundred leachate seeps.
In 1989 and 1990, the Illinois EPA and U.S
Environmental Protection Agency (U.S EPA), in
two separate actions, removed approximately
155,000 gallons of leachate. * In 1991, parties
responding to a U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA
Administrative Order on Consent conducted a
number of interim actions including the
installation of an interim cap over the landfill.
The landfill was placed on the National Priorities
List (sometimes called the Superfund List) in
1990.
In April 1999, elevated levels of landfill gas were
detected in the soil and in a few homes in
Wycliffe Estates directly west of the landfill. The
parties responding to the 1991 Administrative
Order on Consent installed an active landfill-gas
interception system along the western boundary
of the landfill. The system significantly reduced
landfill gas within a month. No landfill gas has
been detected in the subdivision during the past
six years.
*Leachate is water that has passed through
landfill waste and picked up contaminants
present in the waste.
Fact Sheet - MIG/DeWane Landfill Page 1 of 4
http://www.epa.state.il.us/community-relations/fact-sheets/mig-dewane-landfill/fact-sheet.... 5/24/2012