Toxic site at Fifth and Hill streets

This site at the intersection of Fifth and Hill streets in Champaign, owned by the power utility Ameren Illinois, has been a source of controversy since a pair of University of Illinois urban planning students brought its history to the attention of residents in 2007. Ameren has been cleaning up the site for more than a year under a voluntary program overseen by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The 5th & Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign, organized with help from the Health Care Consumers, argues that chemicals left behind at the site have migrated into the surrounding neighborhood and caused a host of health problems, from chronic headaches to serious reproductive problems and rare cancers.At the heart of the dispute is whether benzene and other toxic chemicals associated with the site, which operated from 1869 until the mid-1950s, are long-term health hazards for area residents.  Full story here

Explore this site with the interactive map below: 

 

Click the image to see a map of the toxic clean up site