ANNOUNCEMENTS
(noted provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)
The club wished Tom Ulen, in absentia, a happy birthday.
Tom Hodson from Champaign West is taking orders for Poinsettias. They come in red, pink or white and are $10 each. Please contact Tom at tzhodson@gmail.com, if you would like to place an order.
Rob announced that the annual citrus fruit sale has begun. Boxes of fruit will be sold for $25 each. Our goal is to raise $10,000. Members are asked to sell $200 worth or make a contribution in an equal amount.
Penn Nelson gave the Rotary Minute this week. Considering that Penn had to squeeze in more years and life events than, say Andrew, this was quite a feat! Penn was born in Milwaukee, and met his wife, Barb, while in college in Minnesota. He worked for a clothing business that transferred him to Champaign. When the clothing business was bought out, Penn purchased the local Norell franchise. Penn later started Spherion. Penn and Barb have two daughters. One daughter lives in Florida where Penn and Barb spend their winters. Their other daughter, Cindy Sommers, lives in Champaign with her husband and two children. Cindy is a member of Champaign West Rotary. Cindy began working for her Dad and eventually bought the Spherion business from him. Penn is a past president of CU Sunrise.
PROGRAM
Ed introduced Joe Hooker, Assistant City Attorney with the City of Champaign. Joe has a MA in Urban and Regional Planning and a law degree from the U of I. He is also an adjunct instructor with the U of I Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
Joe’s work for the City has emphasized planning and environmental issues. He spoke on the City’s joint effort with 13 other local government entities to protect the Mahomet Aquifer from contamination from the chemical waste landfill near Clinton, IL.
The Clinton Landfill is located in the middle of the area overlying the Mahomet Aquifer. The aquifer stretches from the Indiana border to the Illinois River. Clinton Landfill, Inc, is a subsidiary of Area Disposal Services, Inc. and Peoria Disposal Company (PDC). These two very large waste disposal corporations are headquartered in Peoria. PDC provides hazardous waste disposal services to clients in 11 states throughout the Midwest.
The position of the intergovernmental coalition is that Clinton Landfill Inc. is violating the IL EPA by operating a chemical waste facility at its Landfill #3 unit without having obtained local sitting review approval from the DeWitt County Board.
At a 2002 hearing, the Vice President of Area Disposal Services, Inc., testified that Landfill #3 would not accept PCB contaminated waste in concentrations regulated by the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act or “special waste” that exhibit the characteristics of hazardous wastes as defined by State regulations. Subsequently, the Illinois EPA issued a permit for the facility.
However, Area Disposal Services plan to expand its hazardous waste landfill in Peoria County was thwarted by Peoria voters in 2007. In 2007, the Dewitt County Board, on the recommendation of its Finance Committee, approved an amendment to the host agreement, allowing them, in exchange for $50,000 per year, to build a chemical waste landfill and rail unloading facility. In 2008, Clinton Landfill Inc. filed for a permit modification to allow it to utilize 22.5 acres of Landfill #3 for PCB and particularly toxic special wastes.
In 2012, the coalition of local governments filed a citizen’s complaint, alleging that Clinton Landfill #3 is accepting hazardous waste in violation of the State’s EPA Act on the grounds that a local hearing was not conducted. Although they agreed that a hearing was not held, the EPA decided in favor of CLI based on the County Board’s approval.
The coalition, including the cities of Champaign, Urbana, Bloomington, Decatur, Tuscola and Monticello, the town of Normal, villages of Savoy and Forsyth, counties of Champaign, Piatt, McLean and Macon and the Mahomet Valley Water Authority, is appealing the decision of the Illinois EPA.
An environmental consultant hired by Mahomet Valley Water Authority has advised that CLI has underestimated the potential threat to drinking water based on erroneous characterizations of the geology and hydrology of the site and a reliance on inadequate computer models to predict future migration of contaminants from the facility and that they have failed to account for potential leaks after the thirty year post closure monitoring period required by law.
KPRG and Associates, Inc’s report and other important information about this issue are available at www.cleanwater4midIL.org. You can also contact Joe at joseph.hooker@ci.champaign.il.us.
—
| Nov 6 th | Nov 13th | Nov 20th | Nov 27th | |
| Introductions | Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | No |
| Invocation | Curt Anderson | Laura Auteberry | Oktay Baran | Meeting |
| Greeters | Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | due |
| Kris Young | Harold Adams | Curt Anderson | to | |
| Song Leader | Jen Shelby | Lou Simpson | Jeff Van Buren | surplus |
| Notetaker | Lintner | Conforti | Chamberlain | of |
| Rotary Minute | Gary Olsen | Robb Patton | Allan Penwell | Turkeys |
—
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
November 6th – Anne Sautman, Director of Education at Krannert Art Museum, will talk about KAM’s current exhibits of Goya prints and French WW I posters
November 13th – Carl Burkybile, Champaign Rotary World Community Service Co-chair, Caring for Kenya Director, Healing Hands International Director of Agriculture
November 20th – Terry McLennand, Director, External Affairs, Prairie Research Institute (PRI), will discuss the breadth and depth of the organization he works for. The Prairie Research Institute is home to more than 1,000 researchers and staff and $80+ million in external research funding; the Institute provides objective research, expertise, and data on the state’s natural and cultural resources. The units of the PRI are the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois Archaeological Survey, Illinois Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.
November 27th – Thanksgiving, no meeting
December 4th – TBD
December 11th – Sam Reese will discuss the history of Jazz and Chicago
December 18th – C-U Sunrise Rotary Holiday Party – don’t forget your fancy clothes!
