Ethylene Oxide Update #36

In this update includes:

• Second set of results from Phase III samples received
• Results included two days of samples from 10 locations for a total of twenty samples
• First Quarter cumulative and fugitive emissions results shared by IEPA; Vantage within permit

To monitor the effectiveness of the negative pressure system and the continuous emissions monitoring, the Lake County Health Department, the Village of Gurnee and the City of Waukegan approved a thirty-day intergovernmental agreement and a contract with GHD Services to collect an additional 10-days of samples over thirty-day period. These results are being submitted to the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for a health risk assessment. The current estimate is that this assessment will be completed four to six months following the completion of Phase III testing.

The results of the all previous testing be viewed at: https://www.lakecountyil.gov/4188/EtO-Monitoring-Results

The spreadsheet of all results is available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mrY1MbFWUT5-ysl7SpD74CKMKOMo4x9i5wZAArdYJ2k/edit?usp=sharing

Additionally, the IEPA has updated its website to include the cumulative emission of EtO for the First Quarter (January 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020) for Vantage.  The results indicate that Vantage released 21.62 lbs (19.65% of permitted annual total) of EtO cumulatively in the first quarter, of which 14.7 lbs (24.51% of permitted annual total) were fugitive emissions.  Public Act 101-0023 and Vantage’s Construction Permit limit the facility to 110 lbs of emissions annually of which no more than 60 lbs can be fugitive emissions.The submission noted that Vantage "did not have any deviations from the requirements of Construction Permit No. 19100015 during the reporting period”. The full testing report from Quarter 1 is now available on the IEPA website here: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/community-relations/sites/ethylene-oxide/Documents/Vantage%20Const%20Permit%20Q1%202020%20Report.pdf

To keep up to date on Ethylene Oxide in Gurnee, visit www.gurnee.il.us/eto