UPDATED: IEPA Landfill Ruling Again Delayed

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling on the Land and Lakes landfill has again been postponed.

The agency was scheduled to announce today (Oct. 12) whether it will require additional monitoring of the Buffalo Grove landfill. IEPA spokeswoman Maggie Carson said the IEPA received an extension request from the landfill’s owner based on concerns the agency expressed following recent data collected from the site.

“We feel there were issues that weren’t adequately dealt with,” she said. “Specifically, about the integrity of one of the monitoring wells, whether or not it was giving an accurate sample.”

She said she was not sure which of the wells sparked the concern. At Land and Lakes' request, the IEPA's decision has been postponed 90 days to Jan. 10.

Land and Lakes also successfully requested and .

At issue is whether the IEPA should continue to monitor the landfill, which has been closed since 1995.

, village officials asked for permanent closure so that the land could be commercially developed. Others, including former trustee Lisa Stone, who has championed the issue, cited concerns about contaminants that have been detected on the site and asked for continued post-closure monitoring.

Toxins, including phenol, were detected in groundwater monitors, according to a preliminary study commissioned in 2005 by the Village of Buffalo Grove. The Shaw Environmental study was never completed.

Phenol was found again in tests conducted by Andrews Engineering, a firm hired by Land and Lakes, in 2009 and early 2010, but was not detected when the wells were retested shortly thereafter. (See attached PDF.)

A July 2011 study, also conducted by Andrews Engineering, indicated that phenol levels found in the landfill’s monitoring wells met IEPA standards. (See attached PDF.)