Authorities monitoring underground fire at Mallard Lake landfill

Federal authorities are closely monitoring a fire believed to be smoldering underground at the Mallard Lake landfill near Hanover Park.

"Obviously, we're very concerned about it and want quick action," EPA on-scene coordinator Steve Faryan said Tuesday.

"On the other hand, there's no immediate danger to workers or the public."

The Mallard Lake site is operated by BFI Waste Systems and owned by the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. It closed in 1999.

BFI, which is characterizing the fire as a "suspected subsurface oxidation event," discovered it in February. Officials say the likely cause is an air leak at one of the dump's 220 methane gas collection wells.

When garbage decomposes it produces methane, which is collected and, in the case of Mallard Lake, converted to electricity. Although landfills are supposed to be sealed and air-tight, if oxygen gets in, it can combust with methane.

It's not uncommon for such fires to occur at landfills, but Mallard Lake, located near Schick and County Farm roads, has numerous environmental problems and the EPA is closely monitoring the situation, Faryan said.

BFI has shut down about 20 wells near the suspected leak to prevent the fire from spreading. Workers also are monitoring probes near the landfill perimeter to check methane gas levels.

The company will be required to isolate the cause of the fire and come up with a plan of action, EPA officials said.

Unrelated to the fire, federal investigators began checking homes in the Mallard Lake neighborhood in November for traces of methane seeping from the landfill. That probe is still ongoing, as is a new investigation, sparked by the discovery this spring of low levels of pollutants at a resident's home, into chemical gases suspected of leaking from the dump.

For information about the investigation, contact EPA officials at joyce.mike@epa.gov or faryan.steve@epa.gov.