Associated Press Article on DePue

[Tad Olson]

The Rockford newspaper carried an Associated Press article on DePue today. I could not find it on the RRStar site but here is a copy of it from another newspaper:

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x125...lution-cleanup

And it looks like there is even a response from the Mayor to the article or something:

http://www.newstrib.com/articles/new...EPA+statements

Just something I saw I thought I would share.

Tad.

[RLR]

Depue

And you wonder why Tea Parties are gaining ground. Listen to the arrogance of this King, very well named. Let them eat cake!!!!!!



The companies still must address a quarter-mile-long slag pile with an estimated 750,000 tons of zinc, which is likely to be capped in place. And they probably will remove contaminated sediment in a portion of the lake, but probably won’t dredge nearly as much as the village wants, King said.

The EPA doesn’t have the authority to have the lake dredged, which would cost at least $10 million, he said. But even if it did, that would be a temporary fix at best, because the lake is an oxbow — formed when a bend in the river was cut off from the main channel. That kind of lake always fills with sediment and becomes part of the flood plain.

“We certainly recognize the emotion on this. But from our perspective, sometimes emotion clouds a sense of reason,” King said.

Ray

[swheeler]

The bottom line is small rural areas don't get the attention that the special interest groups in large cities get. Not enough votes to make it worth while for the government agencies.

[racingfan1]

Delays ??????

“Most communities accept that there are delays. In DePue, we’ve explained all of these things time and time again, and they have refused to acknowledge and accept there is a process that needs to be followed,” said Gary King, who manages the Illinois EPA division that deals with Superfund sites. He says the EPA has gotten good cooperation from the companies in DePue.


Delays - I would say delays is the wrong word to use. Perhaps stalling in hopes that DePue will let this die would be more like it. The DePue site has been on the Superfund list for over 15 years and I think the people of DePue would call it more than delays. One of the contractors who has been there since the start said back when the project started that he will be able to retire on the money he will make off the clean up process. He is still there. At a informational meeting , or shall we call it a B.S. session , this last summer they outlined the process for the cleanup of Lake DePue which involved a 2 year study on the lake , then it would take a year to analyze the data from this study , then another year to figure out a final solution and action plan. We were told it would be 2012 before any work would even be considered for the lake. Which would be almost 20 years since DePue was put on the superfund list. That is one heck of a delay.

No Mr King I would not call it delays but maybe politics and maybe even criminal. As always big buisness wins and while CBS Viacom and ExxonMobil are not responsible for the mess that now exists in DePue , they are the current owners of the property and should step up to the plate and do what is right. But most people dont see that happening!!!!!