Months after Homewood environmental activists sounded the alarm after a study found harmful toxins were draining into a pond in the northwest corner of the Izaak Walton nature preserve, village officials said the pond is not toxic, based on an assessment by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
However, the village of Homewood issued a request for qualifications to identify a consultant who can conduct more detailed tests and assessment of the water quality in the whole Prairie Lakes system. The deadline for responses is March 28.
Village and Illinois EPA officials said in January the north pond is not toxic under state water quality standards, and most contaminants were found to pose no health risks and were below regulatory limits, with fluoranthene being the only substance detected at levels of “slight concern.”
“Not only did the IEPA’s memo not claim that the pond was ‘not toxic,’ but it identifies at least one toxin that is above acute and chronic levels,” grassroots group South Suburbs for Greenspace, leading a campaign to clean up the preserve, wrote in a news release. “Though SSG is pleased that the Village of Homewood is finally proceeding with the testing our group has demanded, its response has shown a lack of urgency and concern.”
Illinois EPA spokesperson Kim Biggs said the village asked the agency to review sample results taken by Bryan Environmental Consultants in 2023, and compared the results with existing water quality standards.
The environmental agency found that fluoranthene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, was above the acute and chronic water quality standards, Biggs said.
“Acute means poisonous for wildlife on contact, so I don’t know why that wouldn’t be toxic,” said Liz Varmecky, founder of the South Suburbs for Greenspace.
Fluoranthene is a common product of incomplete combustion, found in fossil fuels, and released into the environment through processes such as burning wood, coal and petroleum, as well as from motor vehicle emissions and cigarette smoke, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
The U.S. EPA has identified fluoranthene as a high-priority pollutant that can be potentially harmful to wildlife.
While the effects of brief exposures to fluoranthene are not known, the substance is toxic to aquatic organisms, and longer-term animal studies show that fluoranthene can cause nephropathy, or kidney disease, increased liver weight and increases in liver enzymes, the Minnesota Health Department states.
The Prairie Lakes Business Park and Stormwater Detention Basin was developed on the former site of the Washington Park Race Track, which burned down in 1977, according to the village. In 1991, the village purchased 178 acres and created a stormwater system for flood control and water quality. Then, in 2006, the village signed a 99-year lease with the Izaak Walton Preserve to manage the property as a community amenity.
Village officials said historical records suggest debris from the racetrack fire, including charred wood and ash, was likely incorporated into the soil during Prairie Lakes’ construction and may explain the presence of fluoranthene.
“This pond is actually the farthest from the Washington Park fire, and the water flows in the opposite direction from where the discharge pipe is toward where the Washington Park fire is,” Varmecky said. “So we do think that it has a pyrogenic source, but I don’t think it was Washington Park.”
Zaber and Varmecky said they believe the contamination comes from Homewood Disposal, which erected its headquarters along 175th Street near the preserve in 2003, shortly before they noticed discoloration. This is based on their observations of a strong odor, along with discolored water and sediment flowing from a pipe draining stormwater from Homewood Disposal’s property into Izaak Walton, Zaber said.
The grassroots environmental group said dye tests performed from Homewood Disposal’s sump pump pit and recommended by the Bryan consultants confirmed the storm drain in the north pond is the source of the contamination.
The village said it remains committed to working with the IEPA and Izaak Walton to ensure the long-term health of the detention basin.
“Until a full study and monitoring is completed, claims of toxicity should be approached with caution to prevent the spread of misinformation,” the village wrote in the release.
Last fall, Varmecky, along with members of the grassroots group and environmental scientist David Zaber, conducted two tours of the pond to show residents the oily sheen on the water near the outfall feeding the pond from stormwater runoff.
In 2022, the IEPA ordered the installation of booms typically used to contain chemical spills in marine environments, to deal with some of the discharge, Zaber told the Southtown.
Zaber and Varmecky argue that if even one toxin in the preserve is not addressed, it will gradually spread into the rest of the Prairie Lakes system and could pose significant health risks to visitors who fish in the ponds, allow their dogs to swim in them or eat the fish.
Biggs said as part of the Homewood’s municipal separate storm sewer systems program, the village plans to undertake a sampling protocol for the pond, and the Illinois EPA has worked with the village to address questions about the sample and a sampling protocol going forward.
Other heavy metals, including chromium, barium and lead, along with a substantial amount of iron, which is contributing to the pond’s brown and red color, were found during testing, according to the environmental consultant’s report.
In an Illinois EPA memo outlining its findings, the agency said future tests for arsenic, cadmium, lead and iron should focus on the dissolved forms of these metals to help determine if there’s a risk of exceeding water quality standards. Mercury was not detected, the memo states.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
