Asbestos Contaminates Chicago's Oak Street Beach

Asbestos Contaminates Chicago's Oak Street Beach

Chicago, Illinois - There is a long history of asbestos contamination at the Illinois shoreline and Illinois Beach State Park, and as the Lake Michigan 2008 beach season opens, beachgoers are being advised on how to minimize the inhalation of cancer-causing asbestos fibers by a conservation group.

The Johns-Manville Asbestos Superfund site in Waukegan, Illinois released asbestos fibers daily for at least 20 years and they were carried southward by Lake Michigan's currents. The south end of Illinois Beach State Park is adjacent to the Superfund site.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, this 150-acre asbestos disposal area holds around three million cubic yds of wastewater sludge containing asbestos and off-specification products as well as lead and chromium.

Tests conducted by the EPA in May 2002 indicate that water from the Superfund site is intermittently released into Lake Michigan, and millions of asbestos fibers per liter of water contaminate this body of water.

The Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society warns that lake currents transport asbestos fibers as far south as Chicago's Oak Street beach where they wash up on the shore.

Hundreds of triathletes, scuba divers and distance swimmers use the Oak Street beach as a training ground because it has the largest area of deep water swimming in the city.

The Preservation Society also warns that rare amphibole asbestos minerals, hundreds of times more harmful to public health than common urban asbestos fibers, can be found on the Oak Street beach in Chicago. The society is offering tips to minimize breathing asbestos by adults, children and pets if Lake Michigan beaches cannot be avoided.

* Do not eat or drink at the beach! Eat in picnic areas away from the beach to prevent asbestos and amphibole fibers from contaminating hands, food, and containers.
* Do not disturb the sand! When sand is agitated, microscopic asbestos can be released. Asbestos fibers can be released from wet sand and become airborne according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
* Be sure to bring clean clothes and shower off before leaving the beach! Wherever beach sand can go, the deadly amphibole asbestos fibers can be found. Wash your entire body thoroughly. Prior to leaving the lakefront and beaches also remember to wash down pets.
* The U.S. EPA warns to carefully clean or isolate items used at the beach! "Be sure not to bring anything that could contain asbestos material into your house." Make sure that when you shake out towels and blankets that have sand on them to be careful. Remove all beach clothes and towels that have sand on them before going into your car or home. Launder clothing, blankets, and towels separately. Keep hard to clean items and shoes outside and launder clothes and towels separately.
* Do not use certain cleaning methods! Refrain from dusting, sweeping, or vacuuming dirt that may be contaminated with asbestos. "These cleaning methods may disturb tiny asbestos fibers and potentially release them into the air," according to the EPA. HEPA filtered vacuums are recommended for toxic dust and fiber clean up.

Jeffery Camplin, an Illinois licensed asbestos professional and nationally recognized asbestos safety risk expert, compiled these tips.

Camplin was asked to review studies from the EPA, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, ATSDR, and tests of asbestos from the Johns-Manville Superfund Site by the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society.

The conclusion by Camplin was that the studies "lacked standardized scientific protocols and were deeply flawed."

Paul Kakuris from the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society President was angry and said, "Tests and studies were rigged by officials to cover up their involvement in being an obstruction and not properly enforcing pollution hazard violations against those who pollute the drinking water supply with asbestos fibers."

Kakuris also said "Ocean waves wash fibers onto the beaches and asbestos is released from sand during activities on the beach. This exposes millions of unknowing victims to deadly asbestos fibers while government funds are used by corrupt public officials to rig studies."

On May 2, EPA Region 5 officials indicated that the ATSDR, their public health agency partner, issued a formal consultation letter that confirms the technical methodology used in a study "that reported low levels of asbestos at Oak Street Beach upon assessing potential asbestos exposure at that location."

LFR Inc., an Elgin, Illinois contractor retained by the Chicago Park District conducted the study in September 2005. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether engaging in typical beach activities, such as playing catch, building sandcastles and sunbathing could expose people to asbestos.

It is stated in the ATSDR letter that, "Collected air samples contain asbestos concentrations that are consistent with levels that would be expected in urban areas and that a public health hazard does not impact recreational activity at Oak Street Beach."

Regional Superfund Director Richard Karl said, "A review of data collected by the Chicago Park District in 2005 by the ATSDR offers an added level of assurance that the testing at Oak Street Beach testing was appropriate and adequate to reach a public health conclusion. Going forward, the EPA and its federal partners will, as requested, continue to be available to the park district as consultants."

The EPA does admit, however, that as it pertains to the description of the Johns-Manville Superfund Site, "Air sampled in the area of the site did contain asbestos fibers. Groundwater was found to show asbestos, arsenic, and several volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Waste materials and sludge were contaminated with asbestos, heavy metals, and VOCs. Prior to the cleanup of asbestos fibers, the most significant threat to public health was the inhalation of asbestos fibers. The site posed health concerns to the area communities and to the onsite workers as it was dusty during dry periods."

All new uses of asbestos have been banned in the United States by the EPA since asbestos fibers may be harmful to people who are exposed.

(Ref: Environment News Service - May 30, 2008)