Southeast Rockford Ground Water Contamination Site

Site Information

Rockford, IL (Winnebago County)
EPA ID# ILD981000417

Alias(es): N/A

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Mike Joyce (joyce.mike@epa.gov)
312-353-5546 or 800-621-8431, ext. 35546

Remedial Project Manager
Timothy Drexler (drexler.timothy@epa.gov)
312-353-4367 or 800-621-8431, ext. 34367 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. weekdays

Illinois EPA Community Relations Coordinator
Tammy Mitchell
(Tammy.Mitchell@Illinois.gov)
217-524-2292

Illinois EPA Project Manager
Thomas Williams
(Thomas.Williams@Illinois.gov)
815-223-1714

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Rock River Branch
Rockford Public Library
3128 S. 11th St.

Rockford Public Library
215 N. Wyman St.

EPA Region 5 Records Center
Seventh floor
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, Ill.

Links

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund glossary Superfund Frequent Questions:
Superfund Information Systems Frequent Questions

Region 5 RCRA

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

Illinois EPA

Background

This Superfund site consists of an approximately 7.5-square-mile area in southeastern portion of the city of Rockford. Ground water investigations performed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency between 1981 and 1988 showed that many private and municipal wells were contaminated at levels higher than federal health standards. Further investigations determined that the contaminants were used by local industries and were released into the environment from storage tanks and improper disposal practices.

In 1989, residents with high ground water contamination in their drinking water wells were given bottled water by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a temporary measure and the site was added to EPA's National Priorities List. In order to provide residents with a permanent supply of uncontaminated drinking water, EPA hooked up 547 homes to Rockford's municipal water system in 1991.

As the result of a cooperative agreement with the State of Illinois, the Illinois EPA is the lead agency for the cleanup of three sources of the ground water contamination in southeast Rockford: Area 4 (near Harrison Avenue and Marshall Street), Area 7 (Ekberg Pine Manor Park at the east end of Balsam Lane) and Area 11 (northeast corner of Eleventh Street and Harrison Avenue).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the lead agency for the one source of ground water contamination, Area 9/10. Most of Area 9/10 is located on the property of the Hamilton Sunstrand Plant near the corner of Eleventh Street and Harrison Avenue. Historically, Area 9/10 has been used for industrial activity since about 1926 when the Rockford Milling Machine and Rockford Tool companies merged to become the Sundstrand Machine Tool Company.

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