ISGS - January 2008 Activity Highlights

January 2008 Activities

Lake Michigan Level Decline

Ice along the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago, Illinois

The water level of Lake Michigan has been in a slow and gradual decline over the past several months. The decline is more than would be expected from seasonal fluctuations. On several days in early January, wind conditions displaced lake water such that the level temporarily fell below the January record low water for Lake Michigan set in 1965. The lake remains within inches of setting a new record low. Water level is now more than two feet below the long-term average and about five feet below the record high water of January 1987.

Water levels were a key issue in a presentation given by an ISGS coastal geologist at the Chicago Cultural Center on January 10, 2008. The presentation focused on the history of building park land along the Chicago north lakefront and the need to plan for how low water will impact private property along the northernmost two miles of the Chicago lakefront. The talk was sponsored by Friends of the Parks as part of the Last Four Miles project, which is developing plans and designs for completing lakefront park land along the remaining segments of private (non-riparian) property along the Chicago lakefront. (Contact: Michael Chrzastowski)

ISGS Provides Environmental Work for Mississippi River Bridge

McKinley bridge connecting Venice, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri

On Monday, December 17, 2007, the McKinley bridge, which connects Venice, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, reopened to traffic. Built in 1910 for rail lines, the bridge was closed in 2001 for major reconstruction. ISGS Environmental Site Assessments staff conducted environmental studies for the Illinois Department of Transportation prior to the rehabilitation of the bridge, which included evaluation of potential excavation sites for the presence of hazardous waste. Formerly a toll bridge, the bridge has reopened as a toll-free bridge and now has lanes devoted to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. (Contact: Mark Collier)

Final Settlement of LaSalle Superfund Site Suit

In late 2007, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Project Officer R.L. Lange and Jacqueline K. Williams (Illinois Attorney General's Office) notified ISGS Geologist Honorary Randy Hughes that the $8,168,743.00 suit by Kimmins Thermal Corp. against IEPA resulted in the court awarding $2,976,069.77 to the plaintiffs. Geologists Phil DeMaris, Randy Hughes, and Duane Moore completed a drilling and sample analysis program that addressed most of plaintiffs' claims for additional excavation and processing payments. The unusual stratigraphic sequence at the site had been misidentified in the original remediation studies, and the reconstruction of the original, pre-excavation site geology by Survey geologists provided important information to IEPA's consultants and to the court. Mr. Lange thanked the team, saying "We could never gotten this favorable a ruling without each of your contributions." (Contact: Randy Hughes)

Mercury Control Technology Meeting at Applied Research Laboratory

ISGS is planning to demonstrate its patented sorbent activation process (SAP) at a utility site during summer 2008. The SAP was developed for on-site production of activated carbon for control of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. ISGS is currently testing a bench-scale SAP at the Applied Research Laboratory. A planning meeting was held at ISGS with representatives from ISGS, EPRI, Ameren, Apogee Scientific, Western Kentucky University, Calgon Carbon Corporation, and Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI). The group discussed the current research project sponsored by the ICCI and EPRI and the possibility of a full-scale (30 to 50 pounds of sorbent per hour) SAP demonstration at Ameren's Meredosia Power Plant. The research team also visited Ameren's Meredosia Power Plant. ISGS engineers are currently working with EPRI and Apogee to design a SAP unit for the full-scale demonstration. (Contact: Massoud Rostam-Abadi)

Highlights Archive

Updated 07/23/2012 SLD