Do You Live Near Cross Brothers Pail Recycling Superfund Site?
- CDC-PHP Media Communications
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Additional Sampling Begins to Assist in Ongoing Investigation
Our site team is seeking to get in contact with Pembroke Township residents whose properties may be impacted by lead and other heavy metals that are hazardous to human health. A nearby EPA Superfund site ( View Site On Map) located in town known as Cross Brothers Pail Recycling left contamination in the area’s soil and well water sources after the business shut down in 1980. Throughout the years, the state environmental agency (Illinois EPA) cleaned up and removed some of the site’s drums, pails, and soil. EPA scientists, my partners on the site, recently sampled the area’s soil and well water, and they found evidence of contaminants on private properties that still remain. We are hoping to gain access to these properties to gather more data about these chemicals to continue to clean them up over time. All of the sampling and cleanup is free, offered to help protect Pembroke residents' (especially pregnant women’s and children's) health.
Current Investigation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is working to further delineate the extent of remaining contamination at the Cross Brothers Pail Recycling Superfund site in Pembroke Township, Illinois. To do so, the agency needs additional data points from both soil and underground water sources (referred to as groundwater), which may be requested from your private property if your property is located within the site boundary [see map, above]. This data collection effort, which will consist of sampling your yard’s soil and/or drinking water well, will help the agency in understanding how to better protect human health and the environment. All sampling and cleanup will take place outdoors at absolutely no cost to the property owner or tenant.
Site History
The site’s soil and groundwater contamination originated from a pail and drum reclamation business that operated on a 20-acre portion of the site from 1961 until 1980. These pail and drums, which contained dye, ink, and paint residue, were turned upside down prior to cleaning, causing contents to drain into area soil. Additional chemicals, such as solvents, were then poured over the containers to dissolve any residue that remained. Contamination consists of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as heavy metals. In prior years, a group of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) cleaned up a portion of the site under U.S. EPA’s oversight. Illinois EPA then cleared the disposal area of vegetation in 1985, removing 6,500 tons of contaminated soil, 60 tons of crushed pails, 550 drums of contained waste, and 580 empty drums. Upon U.S. EPA’s placing of the site on the National Priorities “Superfund” List, a final cleanup plan was released in 1989 calling for excavation of contaminated soil (completed in 1995), installation of a soil-flushing and groundwater pump-and treat system (completed in 1996), placement of a vegetative cover, and land-use restrictions (local ordinances) to help prevent human exposure to remaining contamination. In 2004, U.S. EPA issued a document further clarifying groundwater use restrictions and cleanup objectives, and in 2007, the agency issued a final close-out report.
Superfund law requires regular checkups of sites where cleanups have been completed, or where cleanups have been started and are ongoing, to make sure the chosen cleanup methods continue to protect human health and the environment. U.S. EPA has conducted several of these reviews at Cross Brothers, which generally take place every five years. Although the most recent five-year review took place as scheduled in 2020, the agency could not confirm the ongoing protection of human health and the environment due to COVID-19 travel restrictions which kept staff from visiting the site in-person. In 2022, a deferred site inspection was conducted in which it was discovered that excavation and foundation work for a residential home had taken place on a parcel of land within the area of the historical pail recycling operation. This parcel of land is covered by a land use restriction which prohibits excavation and residential use due to the contamination that was left in place following completion of the cleanup—therefore the discovery prompted an assessment by the agency to analyze the excavated material and area for contaminants.
The assessment included 20 soil samples and seven groundwater samples from the parcel where the excavation occurred as well as at an adjacent parcel. Samples were analyzed for the site’s known contaminants of PCBs, VOCs, and heavy metals, which were identified above cleanup levels in both soil and groundwater. Site investigation is ongoing and will continue as part of the agency’s 2025 Five Year Review process.
We Need Your Help
If you are a property owner within the site boundary [see map, right], U.S. EPA needs your help! The agency is looking to sample soil and/or drinking water wells from yards of impacted properties to test for materials that may be hazardous to you and your family’s health. We appreciate your attention and cooperation in allowing us access!
Contact EPA
For technical questions:
Caitlin Shanahan Remedial Project Manager 312-353-2690 shanahan.caitlin@epa.gov
For general questions:
Kayla Butler Community Involvement Coordinator 312-886-3108 butler.kayla@epa.gov
Kirstin Safakas Community Involvement Coordinator 312-919-4621 safakas.kirstin@epa.gov
You may call also U.S. EPA toll-free, weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm at 800-621-8431.
For More Information:
Download Factsheet: ATSDR Protect Your Family From Lead
Use your smartphone’s camera to scan the QR code or visit the link beneath it: www.epa.gov/superfund/cross-brothers-recycling.
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