A Plan for the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Occurrence, Transport, and Fate of Ground-Water Contaminants in the Lake Calumet Area of Southeast Chicago

Abstract

The Lake Calumet area of Chicago's Southeast Side has been the location for numerous heavy industrial manufacturing enterprises since about 1860. For the past several decades the area has been used extensively for waste disposal, and now Lake Calumet is surrounded by dozens of operating or retired waste handling facilities. Concern over the environmental quality of the Lake Calumet area motivated the Illinois General Assembly to establish the Joint Committee on Hazardous Waste in the Lake Calumet Area. In their December 2, 1987 report, the Joint Committee stated that ground-water contamination in southeastern Chicago is a significant and growing problem. They recommended that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources develop a ground-water monitoring program for the Lake Calumet area. In response to the Joint Committee's recommendations, the Ground Water Section of·the Illinois State Water Survey, a Division of the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, proposes to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the occurrence, transport, and fate of ground-water contaminants in the Lake Calumet area. The primary outcome of this effort will be the initiation of a long-term ground-water quality monitoring program for the area.