Johns Manville Corp.

Site Information

Waukegan, IL (Lake County)
EPA ID# ILD005443544
NPL Site Narrative
NPL Factsheet
Superfund Site Progress Profile

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Mike Joyce (joyce.mike@epa.gov)
312-353-5546 or 800-621-8431, ext. 35546

Remedial Project Manager
Matthew Ohl (ohl.matthew@epa.gov)
312-886-4442 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64442

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Waukegan Public Library
128 N. County St.
Waukegan

Records may also be reviewed at;
EPA Region 5 Records Center
7th Floor
77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL
8 a.m. - 4 p.m, weekdays

Links

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund Frequent Questions

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

Background

The Johns-Manville site is an approximately 150-acre asbestos disposal area located in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois. Approximately 3 million cubic yards of off-specification products and wastewater sludge, containing asbestos, and to a lesser degree, lead, chromium, and thiram, were disposed in the eastern area of the 300-acre Johns-Manville property. The disposal area is approximately 25 to 30 feet above grade. The site is located in an industrial area, and the nearest residential area is about one half mile northwest of the site. The population of Waukegan is 67,500. The site is bordered by Lake Michigan and the Illinois Beach State Park, both of which are used for recreation. Studies conducted at the site indicated that airborne asbestos presented the greatest potential risk. Johns-Manville ceased operations onsite in summer 1998. All former manufacturing buildings were demolished in 2000-2001.Since 1998, seven additional areas, all of which contained asbestos-containing material (ACM) were discovered outside of the Johns-Manville fence line. These areas have been characterized by Johns-Manville. In 2002, the largest of the six sites was cleaned up under an EPA-funded removal action. A remedial design for the clean up of other sites (the "southwest sites") is expected in 2008.

After Johns-Manville ceased operations on-site in summer 1998, U.S. EPA issued an explanation of significant differences in September 2000 which required the closure of the former wastewater treatment ponds and the miscellaneous disposal pit (which received non-asbestos-containing wastes). Closure of these ponds is proceeding in accordance with the First Amended Consent Decree which was entered in court in December 2004, and investigation of the former manufacturing area is proceeding. Construction on the first of three phases of pond and disposal pit closure began in 2005 and is ongoing. The former settling basin was dewatered and has been covered.The remedial design for the ground-level treatment ponds (the industrial canal, pumping lagoon and collection basin) will begin following completion of the settling basin remedial action.

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