On Thursday night, in front of the Christian County Courthouse, many concerned citizens gathered, along with Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry, to discuss the issue at the Ameren Central Illinois Public Service (CIPS) Superfund Site. This site is located at 917 South Webster Street, right next to Manners Park. Ameren Illinois was in the process of cleaning up the site due to coal tar contamination. The hazardous material, a known carcinogen, was removed in 1987, but not before it contaminated the air and water supply.
Ameren Illinois is conducting an ISS Pilot project, and the public soon noticed an odor coming from it. The Illinois EPA says that the odors are not the result of the soil excavation. The excavation itself did not cause contamination. the excavation removed clean soil that was put in place as part of previous remedial activities. Contaminated soil that was left in place during past remedial activities is located at depth, below the current excavation. The source of the odors appeared to be contaminated soil that reached the surface as part of the pilot study being conducted by Ameren. However, this raised concerns among many members of the Taylorville community, as it reminded them of three decades ago when four families living near the site were forced to raise children with Neuroblastoma.
One of the affected mothers, Brenda "May" Gillenwater, was present at the Christian County Courthouse on Thursday night to share her experience. Her daughter was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in the early '90s, and now, 30 years later, she is worried that history might repeat itself.
The main frustration voiced on Thursday night was the lack of documentation from the Illinois EPA, as well as the fact that the air monitoring is being conducted by Ameren, rather than a third-party provider. The Illinois EPA has stated that public comments were sought after and that copies of the plan were made available to the public at the library.
Private investigator Bill Clutter, who was involved with the case in the 1990s and has continued to research and advocate for more answers, was also present at the courthouse on Thursday evening. He shared his frustrations about the difficulty in obtaining proper documentation from the EPA and expressed his desire to prevent history from repeating itself.
Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry then addressed the gathering, mentioning that he has been actively making phone calls to address this issue. He pledged to continue advocating for third-party air monitoring.
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