The 2.2-acre Western Landfill Site 26 NAS Glenview, seen through a fence in the 900 block of Buccaneer Drive, Glenview. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)
Residents of the 900 block of Buccaneer Drive in Glenview were alarmed when they found notices on their doors about the impending redevelopment of a former Navy burn pit and waste disposal site used at the Glenview Airfield in the 1950s and 1960s.
Several residents expressed concerns about dump trucks transporting potential pollutants through their neighborhood at the town council meeting on Tuesday, August 6.
“Residents have contacted us with questions and concerns about this project and we have many of the same questions and concerns,” said David Just, Glenview’s community engagement manager. “We have made numerous attempts to gather additional information and facilitate communication with the Navy and will continue to advocate for Glenview residents.”
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) said in a written statement Tuesday that her office had been informed of the planned redevelopment of Site 26 at the former Glenview Naval Air Station and was “in contact with concerned residents, village staff and the U.S. Navy.”
“It is important that waste disposal is carried out safely and that the Navy does everything possible to minimise the impact on local residents. My team and I will continue to monitor the situation.”
What is now The Glen was the Navy’s Glenview Airfield from 1937 to 1995. The area along the Buccaneer still contains Navy quarters for the Great Lakes Naval Station.
The former incinerator and landfill is referred to as Site 26 Western Landfill NAS Glenview and consists of a 1.5-acre soil covered area within a 2.2-acre fenced area along Buccaneer Drive.
The 5.5-acre area, surrounded by a high chain-link fence, had no signs until last Saturday indicating what it was or that remediation work was taking place. The area borders railroad tracks, has an old half-basketball court in front of it and houses on either side. A raised wall surrounds part of the area.
Site 26 Western Landfill NAS Glenview is fenced in behind an old basketball court in the 900 block of Buccaneer Drive in Glenview. (Photo: Tom Robb/Journal)
“Waste depths in the waste areas generally average 8 feet. The base’s waste was buried or burned in the mid-1950s,” the neighborhood notice for Site 26 states. “Wastes disposed of and burned included household waste, base waste, and construction debris. Oils, fuels, and solvents may also have been disposed of in the landfill. Previous investigations have also found general waste mixed with soil in the top 5 feet outside of the buried waste areas.”
A 2005 environmental impact assessment also found benzo(a)pyrene in a soil sample at the site, the Navy report said, “exceeding the Illinois Tiered Approach to Corrective Action Objectives (TACO) Level 1 residential soil remediation targets.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that benzo(a)pyrene causes, among other things, damage to red blood cells, leading to anemia, and suppression of the immune system “over a relatively short period of time.” In the long term, benzo(a)pyrene “can cause the following effects from lifetime exposure to concentrations above the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level): developmental and reproductive effects, and cancer.”
Site 26 Western Landfill NAS Glenview, in the 900 block of Buccaneer Drive, Glenview has a locked gate near a half-basketball court in front of the site. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)
Although baseline risk assessments and soil sampling were conducted, a U.S. Navy report on Site 26 states: “Because the remedial actions are due to the presence of waste in a residential area, no risk assessments were conducted. Therefore, conservative screening levels and background levels for the Illinois metropolitan area were used to develop preliminary remediation goals.”
The Navy statement said: “As discussed during the public meeting on May 30, 2018, the waste and contaminated soils within the former Glenview Landfill will be excavated, loaded onto dump trucks and transported to a disposal facility.
“Remediation work (i.e. construction/excavation) can now begin in August 2024. All work will be conducted in accordance with state and federal regulations. We expect cleanup work (i.e. construction/excavation and backfill) to be completed by November 2024.”
As for the exact date of the project’s start in August, Matt Mogle, spokesman for Naval Station Great Lakes, said, “The Navy does not have a specific start date at this time.” Navy officials said restoration work on the site would continue through 2025 and the site would eventually be redeveloped into a park in 2026.
The neighborhood notice stated: “A truck cleaning station will also be set up at the entrance and exit of the construction site. This will be used to clean and decontaminate the dump trucks and other equipment leaving the construction site, preventing dirt, mud and potentially contaminated soil/waste from entering the construction site.”
When asked about the method of transporting remediated soils from the site, Mogle said, “The trucks will be covered once they are full and before they leave the site. The contractor will conduct pre-departure inspections and safety protocols on each truck in accordance with state and federal regulations.”
The alert shows the truck route through the neighborhood from Shermer Road to Coral Lane, 1st Street, Buccaneer to the site. Trucks would exit the site via Buccaneer Lane, Dauntless Drive, Constellation Drive and then to Shermer.
