Stop The DeKalb Co. Mega-Dump

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

Take a look at these faces, because it’s the last time you will see them in office. These are the people who put pet projects, special interests, and payoff money for those projects from Waste Management to accept 17 Counties worth of garbage. They are the ones to blame for our kids who are currently ill at Cortland Grade School. They are the ones who will kill tourism in DeKalb County as we will be known as the Garbage Capital of Illinois. VOTE THEM OUT!