Activists hope a meeting set for Thursday night will attract residents concerned about chemical pollution they believe was not addressed by the cleanup at the site of a long-gone gas plant in Champaign’s predominantly African-American north side.

Once it's approved in court, the Clinton Landfill Consent Decree will bar certain types of waste from going into the landfill, in order to protect the Mahomet Aquifer that lies beneath it. But some waste that's already in the landfill will stay. Both supporters and critics of the Consent Decree are looking ahead to other ways to shield the aquifer from possible contamination.

Under a proposed consent decree, local governments would refrain from efforts to force the Clinton Landfill to remove manufactured gas plant waste, but the landfill to beef up its safety precautions.

The bill that passed the Senate Thursday (HB 1326) deals with manufactured gas plant waste, which is called 'very dangerous' by co-sponsor Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet.)  The measure was inspired by efforts to keep PCB's out of the Clinton Landfill.