Bombs In Your Backyard: 9 Medium, High-Risk DOD Sites In Illinois

Illinois has 120 properties or installations currently or formerly owned by the Department of Defense that have at least one hazardous site and nine of these installations have at least one high- or medium-risk hazardous site, according to data released from the DOD that was acquired and published by ProPublica.

According to ProPublica, which has been documenting toxic pollution left behind by the military across the country, there are more than 40,000 such hazardous sites polluted by U.S. military operations.

Through its reporting, ProPublica found that many of these sites have extensive groundwater and soil pollution or present a risk of exploding bombs and munitions. Some of these sites are part of old facilities that may not be known locally even though a risk of exposure to contaminants may still be present. ProPublica also notes that contamination could affect an area much larger than the site itself.

According to ProPublica, past and estimated future costs of hazardous sites cleanup in Illinois is $1.2 billion.

The Illinois installations with at least one medium- or high-risk site are:

• Rock Island Arsenal
• Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Decatur
• Nike Site SL-10, Alhambra
• Savanna Depot Activity
• Camp Grant Rifle Range, New Milford
• Ford Sheridan
• Scott Air Force Base, Belleville
• Great Lakes Naval Base
• Joliet Army Ammunition Plant

ProPublica explains in its methodology that it classified entire installations as high risk even if it contained one high risk site. A site is either assigned a relative risk of high, medium or low or a priority level of 1 through 8. ProPublica simplified that into one risk level and confirmed their assessment with the DOD.