EPA checking for deadly gas near former DuPage County landfill

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is checking households near the former Mallard Lake landfill for potentially explosive methane gas.

Tests by the EPA showed high levels of methane gas 40 feet below the ground migrating from the landfill, which led to the door-to-door effort.

Agency investigators have screened 20 homes since Saturday for the gas, which is generated by decomposing landfill waste.

So far, officials have not detected methane in any basements but the probe will continue over the next few weeks in neighborhoods closest to the southwest border of the controversial landfill near Hanover Park.

"The important thing is that neighbors are safe right now," said EPA on-scene coordinator Steve Faryan said Tuesday, adding it was a positive sign the gas was so far below the surface.

Authorities are distributing gas collection canisters that monitor concentrations to affected homeowners.

"It's an additional safeguard for residents," Faryan said.

Methane is a colorless, odorless gas. When it's highly concentrated in a confined area, such as a crawl space, it can ignite from sources like a furnace or a match.

Landfills, such as Mallard Lake, collect the methane that's produced by the decaying garbage and convert it into electricity that's sold to utilities. The EPA will be investigating how gas is leaving the landfill, which should be self-contained, and how to correct the problem.

Mallard Lake, which accepted trash until 1999, is owned by the DuPage County Forest Preserve and operated by BFI Waste Systems. It is located near Schick and County Farm roads.

DuPage County Forest Preserve Executive Director Brent Manning said the agency was cooperating with the state and federal Environmental Protection Agencies to ensure the safety of residents.

The landfill has a notorious history. Its operators were sued in 1979 by the Illinois attorney general, who claimed dangerous chemicals were illegally dumped there.

In 2006, the forest preserve and BFI were sued after traces of vinyl chloride, a toxic chemical linked with landfills, showed up in people's wells to the south.

Shawn Collins, the attorney in the case, filed another lawsuit against the landfill this year, related to concerns about methane leaking off-site.

"Of all the dangerous health threats the landfill has created, I've always thought the worst was the gas," Collins said. "Obviously there's a very serious problem and the U.S. EPA is in the early stages of exploring that."

BFI officials, who deny the landfill leaked vinyl chloride, said they believe that layers of clay are acting as a barrier to preventing methane from rising close to the surface. The company is working closely with the EPA, a spokesman said.

While the situation raises serious concerns, methane gas leaks from landfills are not unique to Mallard Lake.

"We've had cases like this before," Faryan said.