While Waste Management is jockeying for position and the School Board is pondering the bad hand it was dealt, the parents of Cortland are left in a quandary.

They need not be. Hydrogen Sulfide is not some new plague. The science of the damage it can wreck on people has been known for decades.  The Federal EPA has spearheaded this study but Congress has allowed it to remain toothless. Just like with the West Nile Mosquito and the Lyme Deer Tick, parents will have to protect their children.

Every molecule of H2S eliminates one molecule of Copper within the child’s liver. There is no immunity to H2S, there is only reserve. The Copper in the liver helps to build white blood cells and to construct strong blood vessels. A normal 7 year old child with a healthy diet has a liver Copper concentration of 35 ug/g.  With an average size liver of 110 g there should be a reserve of 3200 ug of Copper.

If we take a current case scenario from the report by C, C and A at Cortland School, the initial .080 ppm analysis can be shown to contain160 ug of H2S in 1470 liters of air. 1470 liters of air is also the volume of air that a 7 year old might breathe during a 7 hour school period. Since a 7 year child needs 400 ug of Copper per day this child could incur a deficit of 160 ug from its reserve. Unless this is compensated with increased copper, this reserve could fall below the 25 percentile level in 10 school days. A content of 15 ug/g in the liver could result and enter the critical range. From the actual reading in a classroom of .38 ppm and .62 ppm out of doors it is possible to gauge the potential range of the problem.

What happened to the children in the 2009-2010 school year? How could they now be protected? Copper concentration in the liver can be determined by a liver biopsy. Conveniently, though, hair analysis is an acceptable substitute and does reflect long term Copper status. In fact, a recent study of adults living within .4 miles of this landfill was conducted by hair analysis. The landfill adults showed an average Copper concentration of 9.75 ug/g, while adults living at least 3 miles away tested at 29 ug. In addition, all of the landfill adults had critical cardiovascular problems.  Veterinary Laboratories run hair analysis on valuable animals all the time. If a physician doesn’t know what to do with the hair analysis data a veterinarian can help.

Navarro and Wood (2003), Journal of Nutrition, determined that multi-mineral supplements had little short term effects with Copper. Fortunately, foods high in Copper are the best protection you can give your child. Consulting the USDA National Nutritional Database one will find these as highest in Copper. They are listed here in ug/oz: liver 2683/oz, cashews 633/oz, pacific oysters 452/oz, almond butter 257/oz, peanut butter 163/oz. Quaker Oat Granola 103/oz.  How much does your child need? It depends on their current copper status and knowledge of the H2S burden from the landfill. Currently, the instrumentation that Waste Management is obliged to use to monitor their site activates at above 10 ppm.

One thing is certain. Don’t wait for help from your County or Village government.

Measurable amounts of hydrogen sulfide were found at Cortland Elementary school a testing company reported at the Tuesday night District 428 School Board meeting. One location tested within the building measured at the top of the level acceptable by the Illinois Department of Health for in-doors. The amount outside of the school, on a day when the wind was blowing from the north toward the landfill, measured 0.82 pp million, ten times the amount inside the building.

This report once again provides further example of how the county is at danger if they are going to trust the reports of Waste Management Inc. The measures found by Carnow and Conibear, hired by the school district to test at the Cortland elementary school site, were much higher than those reported by Waste Management. Once again it is clear that we can not trust the assurances given by Waste Management nor the assurances given by the DeKalb County Board.

More testing is going to be conducted inside and outside of the school, for a longer period of time, under various weather conditions, times of day, and different wind speeds from other directions. After further testing Mr. Rod Harvey of Carnow and Conibear said he would be able to offer a professional opinion on whether the H2S is coming from the landfill or not. Members of the school board wisely said they did not trust Waste Management and that they also wanted the soil tested as well as the water.

According to Dr. Carman, former Texas environmental official and clean air director of the Texas Sierra Club, “The effects of toxic pollution such as H2S on growing children is recognized by experts as particularly severe.”

The fact that the outdoor amount of H2S is 0.82 pp million is especially worrisome because as Dr. Carmen explains, “Children are more vulnerable than adults to hydrogen sulfide, first because they breathe more rapidly, taking in significantly more pollution per pound of body weight than do adults. Second, national data show that children spend an average of 50% more time outdoors than adults.” The reading of H2S was taken on the south side of Cortland Elementary where the playground is located and where the children have their outdoor recess. Also the state of Illinois requires 40% of the air in a classroom to be outside air brought in through univents.

Dr. Carmen also points to a third reason why H2S is more dangerous for children, “Third, children are three times more active outdoors (than adults.) This increased activity raises breathing rates and significantly increases inhalations and in some cases swallowing of pollutants.”

As if this were not enough to convince anyone that there is no reason to expose our children to this risk Dr. Carmen also adds this information, “Fourth, children are particularly vulnerable to toxic substances because their bodies are immature and rapidly growing. Fifth, children in their prime learning years and H2S exposure causes brain damage. The impairment of mental faculties in a child amounts to a lifetime of harm.”

Although it is good that the school district is having further testing done at the Cortland Elementary school it is already clear that the children there are at more risk than children located far from the landfill.

Again Dr. Carmen points out, “ Public health scientists now recognize that hydrogen sulfide is a potent neurotoxin, and that chronic exposure to even low ambient levels causes irreversible damage to the brain and central nervous system. Children are among the most susceptible to this poison gas. It is unacceptable for communities to have to continue suffering the ill effects of H2S when the technology to control H2S emissions is available and affordable.”

It is also unacceptable that the governmental officials of DeKalb County Board and the city of Cortland turn their backs on the children of the county and vote to put them at risk. Shame on the County Board members for voting yes to this dangerous expansion. We can only imagine how much H2S will be in the air if 2,000 tons per day start to go in across the field from the playground.

The Stop the DeKalb mega-Dump group encourages everyone to stay involved and engaged. Prepare to defend our children before the Illinois Pollution Control Board at the public hearing in August. We can still stop this mistake from going any further.

Dan Kenney
Chair of the
Stop the Mega-Dump