Asbestos Issues at the Illinois Beach and State Park: My Summer Visit

I visited the Illinois Beach and State Park that was discussed in my recent Masters Thesis and the blog at https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=11706. My goal was to better understand the history and any current attempts by either Illinois or the United States to understand the asbestos issues and protect the citizens. Unfortunately, little is currently being done and the historical work (old signs) provide inconsistent messages.

More importantly the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry are now being hammered in the press for lack of resources and the poor quality of their work. Read the article at https://stocks.apple.com/A2MZFcpJDQ_Oc1MWljt-I6g, and just imagine that the article discusses the work on asbestos at superfund sites just like it discusses radioactivity at the West Lake Landfill. If you read my thesis about the migration of blue asbestos onto the beach, nature areas, and other locations at the Illinois Beach and State Park, the similarities between the two situations are readily apparent.

To be clear, I didn’t see any asbestos; but, I wouldn’t know what to look for. Others who do know what to look for, see the waste products on a reoccurring basis.

What I did find was inconsistent signage in the various entries to the recreational areas. Some had signs cautioning about asbestos in English. Some were in Spanish. Some were both English and Spanish. Some had no asbestos caution signs. As to the signs themselves, all were in red and white which, of course is contrary to the ANSI Z standard stating that the caution signs should be in black and yellow. None warned about asbestos fibers which are naked to the eye. One sign had a bolt through the phone number to call if the visitor suspected asbestos. The actual phone number to call had 4 options, none of which mentioned asbestos. I would question where the person who you eventually go to would be able to understand asbestos or hot foot it out to the beach or nature area at issue.

Remember, these paths all access the same beach, and so any differences in communication makes no sense. Interestingly, the signs do provide some information to those entering the beach. As we were walking past a sign, a woman in a group with a young child just entering the beach looked at an asbestos caution sign which was in English, and said out loud, “Asbestos, what is this asbestos?” That certainly made my day as the signs are at least getting some notice. She asked me how to identify the asbestos and whether the beach was safe.

Much of the asbestos wastes at the park were run offs from the Johns-Manville facility adjacent to the beach from the south or polluted feeder sand required to periodically replenish the beach. The facility is now a superfund site. The Johns-Manville facility asbestos caution signs, in addition to the barbed wire fence, are as follows:

It would seem that inadequate and inconsistent information rules the day at the Illinois Beach and State Park. This crown jewel of the park system is otherwise an amazing, absolutely amazing, place. It is beautiful and teeming with nature sights and trails. Too bad that environmental concerns arose after the Johns-Manville facility was constructed next door.

Let me know what you think either by leaving a comment or emailing we at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thanks. Marty