Wedron air quality deemed safe, residents still have questions

Air quality concerns were raised in the last few years in Wedron due to the town's proximity to the Wedron Silica Mines, now run by Covia, but officials said Thursday they didn't find a significant amount of crystalline silica dust or particulate matter to affect residents' health.

The Illinois EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry spoke to Wedron citizens Thursday night to discuss the results of a study done on their air quality.

"Your health is not likely to be impacted by breathing the levels of particulate matter that are found in Wedron," said Motria Caudill, a scientist with the ATSDR's Chicago office. "Studies have shown a slight increased risk to sensitive populations at low levels of exposures."

Caudill said the levels of crystalline silica shown in their air monitoring from Oct. 5 to Dec. 3, 2016, shouldn't cause issues but high levels of particulate matter can, although tests in Wedron didn't test high enough to see those risks, according to officials.

The Illinois EPA also addressed Wedron's water issues that date back to the last few years. The Wedron well water from six homes was found to be contaminated with benzene, according to a Times article from 2013.

The source of water contamination appears to be the site of the former Hoxsey gas station, the NewsTribune was told in 2017 by Greg Rudloff, environmental scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hoxsey operated as a store and gas station from the late 1920s to 1977, when fire destroyed the store.

Greg Dunn, the manager of the Illinois EPA's Project Management Section, said the options they are looking at right now involve either hooking Wedron up to Ottawa's water line or drilling additional wells outside of town.

"(Drilling additional wells) is more problematic because we know we have clean water but we can only get so many people on each well," Dunn said. "Once you have multiple people on the same well, you run into some other regulations."

Dunn said they are conducting a soil gas test in November to search for volatile chemicals like those found in gasoline.

Ken Wyse moved to Wedron in 1999 and from the moment he and his wife moved there they both came up with health issues they'd never had before.

"When I bought my home in '99 I thought I was buying my dream home," Wyse said. "A couple years after I started finding out all this and it really scared me. I bought a nice piece of property there and I'm concerned about my property value going down."

Between the air quality issues and the water problem that has since been attacked with a filtration system for the affected homes, Wyse said he's had realtors look at his property and they wouldn't touch it.

Charlotte Beach is a nurse who lives on the other side of the hill from Wedron Silica's newer facility.

"I have patients that work for Silica Sand companies that have lung problems: sarcodosis or siliconosis have always been a question but when they go to their specialist it seems to get swept under the rug," Beach said. "When I go outside and I see this large particulate matter, I wonder if it's large, is there any small? How is it affecting me and the other people?"

The EPA and the registry both said they are planning for a follow-up meeting after the soil gas study is finished but a date was not given.