U.S. Water News Online
CHICAGO, Ill. -- A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court alleging that wells serving several dozen families have been contaminated by vinyl chloride that leaked from a now-closed DuPage County landfill.
The lawsuit was filed against the DuPage County Forest Preserve as owners of the landfill and BFI Waste Systems of North America Inc., which operated the landfill in Hanover Park. It seeks compensation for the cost of a new water supply and property damage due to the contamination. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Tyanna and Jeff Cannata of West Chicago, say the groundwater beneath their home, which they use for drinking, cooking and bathing, is contaminated by the carcinogen vinyl chloride. They are asking the court to treat the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of at least 80 other families they believe to be affected by the contamination.
Those who breathe vinyl chloride have an increased risk of cancers of the liver, brain, lungs and blood, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The effects of drinking high levels of vinyl chloride are unknown, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it's unsafe for drinking water to contain more than two parts per billion of the contaminant.
"We haven't received a copy of the lawsuit, so we can't comment," said Bill Weidner, a spokesman for the DuPage County Forest Preserve. "(But) from the data we have received, we don't believe the Mallard Lake landfill is the source of the contamination. We are interested in finding out the source."
According to Shawn Collins, attorney for the Cannatas, the same chemicals found in the drinking water are found in the landfill and not anywhere else in the area. The groundwater moves in a direction from the landfill toward the homes affected by the contamination, he said.
"In order to create groundwater contamination of the scope that has been found you have to have a massive amount of toxic waste dumped," Collins said.
The landfill closed down in March 1999 after it reached capacity, according to Weidner, who added it was filled with household and not industrial refuse.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the source of the contamination as a result of random testing late last year by the DuPage County Health Department, which showed elevated levels of vinyl chloride in several wells.
Carol Fuller of the IEPA told the Chicago Sun-Times it isn't unusual to find vinyl chloride at landfills. However, she said testing has shown what little is on the site hasn't left the site.
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