Vermilion County Gets EPA Grant to ID Contaminated Sites

Federal money will give health officials in Vermilion County the chance to inspect old industrial sites for contaminated waste and discuss their future.

Half the $400,000 grant from the US EPA will go towards identifying hazardous substances... while the other $200,000 is to identify petroleum as part of the agency's Brownfields assessment program.

Doug Toole is an environmental health specialist with the county's health department. He's identified 32 potential sites for inspection and possible cleanup... including old factories, gas stations, salvage yards, and dry cleaners. The sites are in Danville and nearby cities like Hoopeston and Westville.

Toole says the funds will let the county bring in an environmental consultant to help coordinate public hearings. He says the first hearings wouldn't be about specific sites, but serve more as an orientation:

When people are complaining about junk houses in their community and dump sites and things like that --- stuff that we handle on a routine basis --- and that's good", says Toole. "We can get those things cleaned up. But I want to be sure the public's aware of what we're talking about with a brownfield. Just because there's an empty business in the area doesn't mean that that it necessarily has contaminants in the soil or asbestos or lead-based paint."

The $400,000 from the EPA can't be used for salaries at the financially struggling health department. Toole says a separate grant will be required for cleanup of the sites, and other hearings will be held to look at potential uses. Danville failed in its bid to receive the same EPA grant, but plans on re-applying.

The Vermilion County Health Department is owed half a million dollars from the state, and has laid off more than 40 employees this year. Toole says it's hard to say what would happen if the department was to fold, but he would expect that someone else in the county would take over the work.