Ellsworth Industrial Park Site

Site Information

Downers Grove, IL (DuPage County)
EPA ID# ILN000508246
CERCLIS listing
This site is not on the NPL; it is a Superfund Alternative Site (SAS)
SAS fact sheet
Alias(es): Downers Grove ground water
Aerial photographs showing distribution of trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) on the site.

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Virginia Narsete (narsete.virginia@epa.gov)
312-886-4359 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64359

Remedial Project Manager
Mazin Enwiya (enwiya.mazin@epa.gov)
312-353-8414

Superfund Supervisor
Matt Mankowski (mankowski.matthew@epa.gov)
312-886-1842

EPA Attorney
Tom Krueger (krueger.thomas@epa.gov)
312-886-0563

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Downers Grove Public Library
1050 Curtiss St.
Downers Grove, IL

Links

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund glossary

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

Background

From May 2001 to January 2002, the Illinois EPA sampled more than 500 residential wells in unincorporated areas near Downers Grove, Illinois, and found more than 400 of these wells to be contain the chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and/or tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Of those, more than 200 were above the federal safe drinking water standards. As a result, one of the most intensive ground water investigations ever undertaken in Northern Illinois was conducted by U.S. EPA Region 5's Emergency Response Branch and the Illinois EPA.

The Ellsworth Industrial Park Site is a direct result of this $2 million-dollar effort. The investigation indicated that a group of 15 former and present businesses and individuals in the industrial park that investigation may be responsible for the residential ground water contamination. EPA sent General and Special Notice Letters to this group of "Potentially Responsible Parties," or PRPs, in the September and October of 2002. EPA has asked this group of PRPs to address the threat to human health and the environment by paying most of the costs of hooking up approximately 800 homes to Lake Michigan water and by beginning their own investigation of how to address the contamination in the area,s ground water.

Site Updates | News Releases | Fact Sheets || Technical Documents || Legal Agreements

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Site Updates

News Releases

Proposed Ellsworth Industrial Park Public Water Supply Agreement Available for Review; Meetings May 12 , May 9, 2003
Agreement on Ellsworth Industrial Park Ground Water Contamination Near; Public Meetings Feb. 24, Feb. 13, 2003
EPA Gives Companies 60 Days to Take Action at Ellsworth Industrial Park Site, Oct. 17, 2002
EPA Sends Notice of Potential Liability Letters to Downers Grove Businesses, Aug. 5, 2002

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Fact Sheets

Field Work Begins on Cleanup Investigation (PDF) (4pp, 116K) October 2006 fact sheet
Comments from residents on the proposed settlement
Illinois EPA Downers Grove Groundwater Investigation Fact Sheets

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Technical Documents

Preliminary Planning Report, Ellsworth Industrial Park (March 2006)
- Preliminary Planning Report - Text (PDF) (106 pp, 311K)
- Tables (PDF) (63pp, 217K)
- Appendix B Tables 1-3 (PDF) (103pp, 291K)
- Appendix C, RI/FS SOW (PDF) (54pp, 891K)
Public Health Assessment (PDF) (22pp, 104K) for Downers Grove Groundwater Investigation (aka Ellsworth Industrial Park). Prepared by Illinois Department of Public Health under cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) March 2003
- Purpose
- Background and Statement of Issues
- Discussion
- Chemicals of Interest
- TCE and PCE Exposure
- TCE and Health
- PCE and Health
- Community Concerns
- Health Outcome Data
- Child Health Initiative
- Conclusions
- Recommendations and Public Health Action Plan
- Preparer of Report
- References
- Attachments