The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has agreed to hook up at least 16 residences in the neighborhood north of Auburn Street and west of the former Amerock plant to the city water supply in the wake of finding contaminated wells in the area.

Although the source of the benzene contamination being investigated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has not been determined, the USEPA has decided residents located on Alliance and Soper avenues as well as homes located on Auburn and Parkside that are not connected to city water will be offered to be connected at no charge.

“Any home in that area on a private well was offered connection by the USEPA. We’re going to hook up 16 homes to city water without charge,” said Bradley Benning of the USEPA Region 5 office in Chicago. “Those are the remaining homes in the area of concern that are still on private wells. Everyone else in the area is on city water.”

Many of the homes in that area tested for more than the allowable EPA limits for benzene, a component of gasoline.

“The homes showed detection in that area, and the potential is there that even the homes that show non-detect are likely down the road going to show some contamination,” Benning told The Rock River Times (TRRT) in an exclusive interview. “The decision was made to hook everybody up in that area regardless.”

The USEPA offered each resident not already hooked up to city water the chance to do so at an invitation-only meeting at the Winnebago County Health Department Dec. 7. Although the media were not invited to attend, TRRT learned of the offer through Benning, and it was confirmed by residents who attended.

“Bids went out to contractors the other day and are due back on the 19th,” he said. “Work will probably begin by the first of the year.”

Assistance was requested by the IEPA to the USEPA Oct. 13 for the residents on Soper and Alliance avenues and included the offer of bottled water in 5-gallon containers. TRRT learned by door-to-door survey that only two residents established contact. Since then, other residents have received bottled water in the area of the 1200 block of Soper and Alliance avenues.

“Bottled water was just a temporary solution to get them water right away,” Benning said. “The solution was either a full-house filtration system or connection to city water. Since the mains were already in place, it was likely cheaper to hook them up rather than the filtration option. We decided to go with the connection option. There is no maintenance on that (city water). Residents would have to replace the filter media (in filtration).”

The connection to city water will include sealing off old wells, Benning said. He added water bill rates will be double those of city residents, unless the neighborhood is annexed, which may be forthcoming, he added.

Benning said the request for help came Oct. 13 from Bureau of Land official Bruce Everett of the Illinois EPA in Springfield.

“They requested assistance from us for assessment and possible funding under the Superfund Program,” Benning said. “It’s mostly an issue with funding. Local, state, there’s no funding mechanism for them to do this.”

Benning said the area qualifies under the USEPA Superfund Program “based on groundwater contamination in this small area because the contaminated plume basically is underneath this neighborhood. The homes qualify, the area I guess you can say qualifies. The action taken strictly is to provide safe drinking water to the homes.”

As for who or which business is found responsible for the benzene contamination, Benning said, remains with the IEPA.

“There won’t be any action by us to do any remediation,” Benning said. “The state may continue to investigate a responsible party. If one is found, there may be corrective action or remediation that would be required of someone to stop the plume from continuing.”

Benning said all homes in the square area will be offered hookups, with as many as 16 identified to this point. No houses on Johnston Avenue have been added to the list, although more tests have been conducted by the IEPA recently in the 1200 block, Benning said. If those houses show a presence of benzene, they will be added, he said. One home in the 1200 block has not been added because it is boarded up, he said.

“I’m assuming everyone will probably want it,” Benning said of the hookups. “But there is nothing on Johnston right now. Results are still coming in to the state. If it’s showing benzene, we would consider adding it. We haven’t received the final results yet.”

The state IEPA declined to comment about the matter when contacted by TRRT. The IEPA has offered little information about their investigation about well water contamination, citing privacy issues.

Although the source of the plume has yet to be confirmed, TRRT has confirmed the IEPA has contacted the Mobil gas station on Auburn Street between Johnston and Day about the matter. Three black state trucks were reportedly seen at the station the week before Thanksgiving at the same time another IEPA truck was gathering samples from the ground in the area. The IEPA confirmed it had been testing the soil.

Lead investigator Mark Wagner of the IEPA confirmed the white truck belonged to the IEPA and confirmed the visit to the Mobil station but did not name them as the source.

Wagner confirmed the white truck seen during Thanksgiving week “has a hydraulic press that comes out of the back and was taking samples.” He added the IEPA “met with the Mobil station on the 21st.”

Maggie Carson, spokesman for the IEPA in Springfield, said the IEPA did collect another series of water samples in the area recently. She added they were at the IEPA lab and that Wagner’s team was awaiting results.

“We are in the process of evaluating it with groundwater flow and direction,” Carson said.

Carson added that more specific information was “private and confidential.”

Benning of the USEPA said the plume of the contamination “is heading due east.”

Carson declined to elaborate on the Dec. 7 meeting that included residents in the area as well as city, county and state officials.

“They were private meetings,” she said.

Sue Fuller, spokesman for the Winnebago County Health Department, also declined to disclose any details of the meeting, saying, “It was between the home owners and the Illinois EPA and the USEPA.” She added the WCHD was only the host of the Dec. 7 meeting.

Benning, who attended the meeting, said, “We had a meeting to ask the homeowners and offered them connection” at the Winnebago County Health Department Dec. 7. Benning said officials from the City of Rockford, the IEPA and the WCHD were present. He said the meeting was not private.

“It was just informational,” he said.

No media outlets were informed of the meeting, Fuller said.

Previously, public meetings were held at the Northwest Community Center in July and August to discuss possible well water contamination after WCHD testing showed well contamination of Volatile Organic Chemicals benzene, toluene and xylene in as many as six neighborhood wells.

Media outlets and neighborhood residents were invited to those meetings held in late July and early August hosted by city, Illinois Department of Public Health and WCHD officials to discuss testing and resident options. At that time, residents were informed a hookup to city water would cost around $2,000 plus the cost of sealing off their wells, which is valued at approximately $600.

The IEPA became involved in the matter in September and began testing wells themselves in October. The number of wells reported tainted by VOCs has varied over the past four months.

From the Dec. 14-20, 2011, issue

A public meeting to discuss the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to move mail processing operations from Rockford to Madison, Wis., has been delayed yet again — to 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 5, at Best Western Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center, 7801 E. State St., Rockford.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8, then was pushed back to Thursday, Dec. 15.

The delay comes after U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) requested the meeting be postponed until early January. He also demanded to see the data the U.S. Postal Service used to support the proposal to close the Rockford facility.

The closure of the Rockford facility would cost the area nearly 200 jobs and would cause delays in mail delivery to homes and businesses in the eight northern Illinois counties served by the Rockford facility — Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Ogle and Lee.

Manzullo worked with Rockford postal officials during the last consolidation study in 2006 to present alternative information that persuaded the Postal Service to abandon its plan to move Rockford mail processing operations to the Chicago suburbs.

“The Rockford processing center was under a similar review six years ago and we found that the data in the previous USPS was incorrect, and resulted in keeping the Rockford facility open,” Manzullo said. “It is impossible to effectively offer comment on a proposal without knowing the assumptions and information that underlie the proposal.”

The Rockford mail processing center is consistently rated among the most efficient centers in the nation, and Rockford workers provide overnight delivery service to their customers in ZIP codes starting with 610 and 611.

Manzullo is working with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) to keep the jobs and overnight delivery service in northern Illinois.

Manzullo, Durbin and Kirk met with Postmaster General Pat Donahoe Nov. 1 to share their concerns with the potential move of operations to Wisconsin and the damage it would cause to northern Illinois. During the meeting, Donahoe said he would share the study data with the members of Congress.

With the deep decline in mail volume as a result of the current economic conditions and continuing electronic diversion, the Postal Service has an excess of employees and equipment in some mail processing operations. A study was begun Sept. 15 at the Rockford facility to determine the feasibility of consolidating redundant operations to see if any efficiencies and cost savings would be achieved.

Initial study results support consolidating mail processing operations that are currently being undertaken at the Madison, Wis., facility to increase efficiency and improve productivity.

While no final decision has been reached, Postal Service managers will give an overview of the reasons for the proposal and its possible outcomes, and will listen to community input and concerns.

A summary of the proposal and presentation materials will be made available online one week prior to the meeting at http://about.usps.com/streamlining-operations/area-mail-processing.htm.

Anyone who wishes to submit comments in writing can send them to Manager of Consumer and Industry Contact, Lakeland District, P.O. Box 5008, Milwaukee, WI, 53201-5008.

Public comments will be accepted through Jan. 21, 2012.

After more than 10 years at the 406 N. Main St. location in downtown Rockford, the members of First Presbyterian Church have voted to place their building and property for sale Jan. 1, 2012. The congregation is now in a thoughtful, prayerful process of considering their many relocation options for the church and its mission. Meantime, the worship services, programs, associations, partnerships and community service projects will continue as before. Track the news and progress at www.firstpresrockford.com.

From the Dec. 7-13, 2011, issue

Winter is approaching, and the year 2011 is quickly drawing to a close. The Rockford Historical Society announces its annual membership drive for the year 2012. These are challenging economic times for all of us, including nonprofit organizations. You can be part of this local historical organization that will give you a comprehensive view of our local history. The Rockford Historical Society provides special programs, projects, field trips and meetings for which you will be notified as they occur throughout the year. Your paid membership also includes the cost of the Society’s local research paper called Nuggets.

Cost of membership is: $15 individual, $20 family, $30 for a Contributing Member, or $150 for a Life Member. You can contribute in other ways as well. The Society would like to know, what are your interests? You could give a presentation; research a historic home, business or person; write an article for Nuggets of History; or help in planning and organizing a Society activity.

To join, send your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and your check to: Linda K. Robertson, 1745 Douglas St., Rockford, IL 61103-4725. If you have any questions, call Linda at (815) 964-1882.

Your membership for January-December 2012 will be greatly appreciated!

From the Dec. 7-13, 2011, issue

Occupy Rockford protesters surround U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D) (center, with megaphone) outside the new Stanley J. Roszkowski U.S. Courthouse at 327 S. Church St. in downtown Rockford Saturday, Oct. 29. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D) speaks with Occupy Rockford protesters outside the new Stanley J. Roszkowski U.S. Courthouse at 327 S. Church St. in downtown Rockford Saturday, Oct. 29. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Members of the Occupy Rockford movement gather outside the new Stanley J. Roszkowski U.S. Courthouse in downtown Rockford Saturday, Oct. 29, after marching from Beattie Park to protest the facility. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Rockford’s new federal courthouse is named after Stanley J. Roszkowski (center in photo), who served as a judge in the Northern District of Illinois for more than 20 years before retiring in 1998. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Local, state and federal officials gathered Saturday, Oct. 29, for the grand opening of the Stanley J. Roszkowski U.S. Courthouse at 327 S. Church St., in downtown Rockford. The facility is named after Stanley J. Roszkowski, who served as a judge in the Northern District of Illinois for more than 20 years before retiring in 1998.

The 5.5-acre site is home to five courtrooms, offices for the U.S. courts and other court-related agencies, 55 secured indoor parking spaces and 20 outdoor parking spaces.

The facility took three years to construct, and cost more than $100 million. Officials said the construction of the courthouse created more than 1,000 jobs for local citizens.

Meantime, while officials celebrated the opening of the courthouse, members of the Occupy Rockford movement marched from Beattie Park to the courthouse dedication in protest of the facility.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and 17th District candidate George Gaulrapp answered questions from Occupy Rockford protesters.

“Occupy Rockford activists hope to voice their frustration with federal economic policy, failure to prosecute criminal market speculators and growing wealth disparity in America in the face of tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent,” the Occupy Rockford movement said in a press release prior to the event.

Occupy Rockford is a local effort in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and other “occupy” movements throughout the country and the world. Visit occupyrockford.org for more details.

From the Nov. 2-8, 2011, issue

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) said Monday, Oct. 31, that it has performed geoprobe tests in areas around the former Amerock plant on Rockford’s west side. Meanwhile, in a correlating matter, a state IEPA official said bottled water has been provided to five homes where contaminated well water was discovered.

The geoprobe was part of a two-pronged state investigation into pollution of local wells from underground gasoline storage tanks in a neighborhood north of Auburn Street, west of Amerock, on Alliance and Soper avenues, as well as allegations of toxic waste dumping by the Amerock Corp. around the plant during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

IEPA spokesperson Maggie Carson confirmed the geoprobe has taken place as planned by the IEPA, and she said the results will be provided within three weeks. The geoprobe is an analysis of heavy metals in the area around Kent Creek, which includes the Northwest Community Center and the land north of the creek. Carson also confirmed last week the IEPA and NWCC officials discussed access to the property for testing, which had not been given until recently.

Carson also said the “U.S. EPA is providing bottled water to those affected by contaminated wells.” She added, “This is a short-term solution while long-term solutions are being discussed.” She said recent agency meetings have been held by the IEPA investigative team and IEPA officials about the contaminated wells and allegations of toxic dumping in that area.

The investigation began when residents reported smelling odors resembling gasoline from their private wells last July and August, prompting The Rock River Times (TRRT) to investigate the matter. Wells in that area are dug 25 to 50 feet underground. Tests conducted by the Winnebago County Health Department and analyzed at IEPA labs showed a high concentration of volatile organic chemicals such as benzene in the water.

Further IEPA tests will determine if other heavy metals, such as those used in the hardware plating process at Amerock, are contained in the groundwater used by private wells to homes in the area west of Amerock.

The Illinois EPA said last week that it planned to follow through on its disclosure to TRRT that tests for heavy metals would be taken in the area after water tests were taken in wells in homes west of Amerock. The exact dates of tests were not provided. The IEPA said it tested 25 wells in the past few weeks, and five were found to have high concentrations of benzene, a common ingredient found in gasoline, Carson said.

The IEPA disclosed to TRRT in October that it planned to use a geoprobe, which is a type of drilling equipment mounted on a small truck, to find out more about the groundwater.

“The Agency will take water levels across several blocks to determine the flow direction of groundwater,” the IEPA detailed in a recent release. “In addition, water samples will be taken to analyze for the fuel-related contamination to further define the extent of contamination.”

The IEPA said it will issue an update as more information is obtained from the investigation. Carson said the first priority remains the residents who are living in homes with contaminated wells. She said the bottled water will provide relief “from ingestion of benzene” by the residents affected. Confidentiality laws prohibit the IEPA from releasing information about specific homes affected.

“We have people who have contaminated drinking wells, and our first priority is why and where it came from,” Carson said when she first disclosed the investigation to TRRT.

TRRT is seeking information about those residents who have their water tested and the results they were given. Those who had water tested can call TRRT at (815) 964-9767 or e-mail TRRT at contact@rockrivertimes.com.

From the Nov. 2-8, 2011, issue

With the grand opening of the new Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens scheduled for this weekend, The Rock River Times asked Rockford Park District leaders, past and present, for their thoughts on this new venture. We talked to former executive director Webbs Norman, and the man who succeeded him, Tim Dimke. Both were asked the same three questions.

TRRT: What are your thoughts on the new Conservatory?

Webbs Norman: “In the short term, I think it’s a really neat crown jewel that you can add to the many other facilities that the Park District provides to the citizens.”

Tim Dimke: “This is certainly a major accomplishment for the whole Rockford community and Winnebago County to have such an amazing asset and attraction right in the heart of our community. Over 1,600 people in our community have made donations or invested in this facility, which shows how important the Sinnissippi riverfront, Sinnissippi Park and the Conservatory and Lagoon area is to all the citizens in our community. We certainly expect that every one of our citizens will visit this facility that the Nicholas family has so generously led in fund-raising efforts to produce.”

TRRT: What do you see as the Conservatory’s role in the future of the Rockford community?

Norman: “I think it’s an exciting role to begin with. I think that it’s bringing essential pride [to Rockford]. I’ve talked to people who’ve been in the facility, and it’s the kind of facility they say they want to invite their out-of-town friends and relatives to. It will add to feeling better about the quality of life in our community. It will draw people from comfortably a 50- to 75-mile radius, and it will contribute to our economy from that standpoint. Overall, I think it will have a very positive impact, and hopefully, it is a springboard to doing other valuable things in the community that will enhance the quality of our life.”

Dimke: “The overall role of the Conservatory from a major standpoint is that it is one more tremendous asset that the citizens of our community can be very proud of and make them value their whole community and make it a great asset. … This specific area is going to be such a tremendous facility for people to visit and spend their leisure time. It will be tremendous as an educational component for all the community, but especially our youth, in energy usage, conservation, moderation of energy, green practices, and in the area of plants, horticulture and conservation, and green and gardening practices. It will have many components, both in recreation and in education.”

TRRT: Do you think that a marketing campaign should be put together to co-promote the Conservatory with Anderson Gardens, Klehm Arboretum, Severson Dells, Tinker Cottage, and La Paloma Garden (if available)?

Norman: “I think that Tim Dimke, Jody Carroll, and Ruth Miller, who is the program manager, they’ve been looking into all these possibilities for quite some time. I don’t know exactly where they are, but we all believe they provide some unique possibilities. For example, Severson Dells doesn’t quite fit the same format as the Arboretum does. I know they’re looking at those things. Tinker, of course, is in the process of developing its long-range plans, which include expanding the gardens. I don’t think that they’re probably up to the point they’d like to be, but I think if they keep expanding their master plan to include acquiring some additional buildings and being able to redevelop the land [as it was] before Mr. Tinker had to sell it, I think that once that’s done, that will be another opportunity to provide a package program or a coordinated program between the Conservatory and all the other facilities mentioned.”

Dimke: “Yes, and add the Nygren Wetland to that. It’s a tremendous facility in the Rockton-Roscoe area, owned by the Natural Land Institute. I would say absolutely, and it’s already under way. A comprehensive program has been developed to market all of these assets, not only to our local citizens but to the many, many visitors we expect to have from outside our area. We expect to have 40,000 visitors a year just to the Conservatory, contributing over $8 million a year to the economy. As part of that, we are already marketing all the assets you mentioned — it’s many tour groups and companies outside our community. They are organized groups that go around the country. We are already marketing them. When you go into the lobby of the Conservatory, we have an electronic kiosk that will be available, starting Saturday and Sunday. It has information all about the assets that you mentioned — maps and how to get there, and we are also working closely with the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau on this whole marketing strategy.”

From the Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2011, issue

One of the favorite holidays for children is quickly approaching. If you look out your windows, you will soon be able to see witches, ghosts, goblins, and movie and cartoon characters galore. The following tips for the City of Rockford can help children experience a safe and fun Halloween:

• Trick-or-Treat hours in the City of Rockford will be on Monday, Oct. 31, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

• Outside lights should be left on for everyone’s safety. Flashlights also help a great deal with safety and visibility.

• Caution should be used when carving pumpkins, so don’t leave children unsupervised with knives. Remember that open flames can be dangerous indoors or outdoors anywhere near where people will be walking.

Trick-or-Treaters are urged to wear light-colored clothing or reflective tape to be more visible. Costumes that are non-flammable, easy to walk in, and with unobstructed vision (large eye openings) are advised. Parents or other adults are urged to accompany children if at all possible.

For any safety questions, contact Rockford Police Department Sgt. Patrick Hoey at (815) 987-5941.

From the Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2011, issue

From newsletter

Visitors to Winnebago County spent 9.6 percent more in 2010, adding almost $279 million to our local economy.

The increase was better than the State of Illinois’ and most of Rockford’s competing markets. Illinois saw an 8.4 percent increase, Cook 9.5 percent, DuPage 7.7 percent and Sangamon (Springfield) 3.2 percent.

The number of jobs directly supported by visitors also rose, with Winnebago County enjoying one of the biggest gains in the state, 2 percent. In 2010, visitors supported more than 2,590 jobs in our county’s hospitality industry.

The increase in visitor spending is good news for local municipalities. Local tax revenue from tourists in Winnebago County grew 5.7 percent for a total of $4.67 million.

“Congratulations to the leadership and staff at the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau for their outstanding work in 2010. The numbers clearly reflect an increase in business and vacation travelers to our area,” said Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen. “From those visitors come the import of dollars into our community, which strengthens the viability of overall economic development in Winnebago County,” he added.

Boys Olympic Development Program returns to Rockford in 2012 & 2013; will generate $2.8 million for local economy

A partnership of the RACVB, area hotels, and Winnebago County resulted in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Boys Olympic Development Program committing to return to the Rockford Region in 2012 and 2013 after a two-year absence.

The Boys ODP Camp will bring 1,900 players and coaches from Region II (13 Midwest states), fill about 2,700 hotel room nights and pump $1.4 million per year into area businesses. The camps will be held over 16 days in July of 2012 and 2013 at Sportscore Two.

“The addition of new hotels and the central location of Rockford were important factors in the decision. Additionally, Sportscore Two has a great deal of flexibility with good quality outdoor fields and an indoor facility,” said Ellie Singer, administrator for U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Boys ODP. “Rockford could increase its chances of winning future bids if it had a facility with artificial turf and lighted fields,” she added. The group chose a new facility in Overland Park, Kansas, in 2010 and 2011.

BMX wins; Park District is finalist

• The 2011 American Bicycle Association’s (ABA) Midwest BMX National Competition held in Rockford was just named the winner of the 2011 Sports Travel Award by Sports Travel magazine. Congratulations!

• The Rockford Park District is one of four national finalists for the 2011 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association. The winner will be announced in November.

Tourism is positive ROI, says Rep. Sacia

Illinois State Representative Jim Sacia (R, 39th District) assisted in hosting a delegation of State Representatives as they visited the Rockford area as part of a State of Illinois Tourism Economic Development Tour on July 28. With him was Representative Ken Dunkin, chair of the Tourism and Conventions Committee, as well as Representatives Lisa Dugan, Dave Winters, Dena Carli, and Charles Jefferson.

Welcome to Rockford! Wanna open a business?

Last year a Chicago dad brought his son to an ice hockey camp at Rockford’s Riverview Ice House. Dave Barr grew up in Rockford and had a summer job at the Rockford Park District’s ice arena. Now, as executive vice president of Lyons Consulting Group, an eCommerce design, development and support firm based in downtown Chicago, Dave was looking for an expansion site for his company.

He thought Rockford could be a good choice for their new location. It’s close to several colleges and universities so Lyons would have a steady stream of technical talent, within driving distance of the Chicago office and centrally located to provide support to their customers across U.S. time zones. Lyons established an office in Rockford this spring and has already hired 13 people for the Rockford office, including a Rock Valley College graduate.

Tourism means jobs… my job!

Name: Steve Litteral

Job: Director of Visitor Services, Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens

Years in Tourism: 4

What My Job Means to Me: I love this industry because I meet people from all over the world every day. Knowledge of local history is important in my job, and my degrees in history and military history have been very helpful. I’m writing a book about the Black Hawk War of 1832 that began in Stillman Valley. This job allows me to support my wife and two young children and pursue my interest in history.

From the Oct. 19-25, 2011, issue

Results of the third round of groundwater tests conducted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in homes north of Auburn Street and west of the Amerock Corp. complex show contamination exceeds federal drinking water standards.

The results of those tests were sent by the IEPA to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), then to the homes with private wells tested in July and August as well as two other wells in the area.

“They retested some of the original ones, plus two additional, and they’re still seeing similar results as far as levels of contamination,” said IEPA spokesman Maggie Carson in an exclusive interview. “That was our concern, and that was why we wanted to do another round. There were multiple wells that showed excedence of the groundwater standard.”

Carson said more than one or two rounds of tests or “snapshots” are needed “because sometimes these snapshots you need to know trends and if this is a fluctuating situation based on seasonal water levels — they have to look at these considerations. This is useful information for them.

“We have federal drinking water standards, and people are drinking that water, so we have those concerns,” Carson said.

Carson said a member of the IEPA team assigned to investigate groundwater contamination and allegations of toxic waste dumping by Amerock Corp. is “working up a fact sheet” to give to public officials.

“She’s building that list as we speak,” Carson told TRRT Tuesday, Oct. 11.

When asked whether there would be a public meeting to disclose that information, Carson added: “That’s not for me to say, but she (Carol Fuller, IEPA investigator) likes to do these. It’s the most effective way to get the same message out to everyone.”

Results of individual tests of private well owners are not public information, according to officials at the IDPH. TRRT will file a Freedom of Information Act request to secure the data, which will not contain individual addresses of homes tested.

The investigative team from the IEPA of Fuller and Mark Wagner toured the grounds on and around property formerly owned by Amerock recently, accompanied by representatives from the (IDPH), the Rockford Park District, The Rock River Times and former Amerock employees.

Although the details of what was discussed on the tour cannot be disclosed as part of an agreement between TRRT and the IEPA, the group accessed land around Amerock that includes the Mel Anderson Bike Path and land north of Kent Creek.

The testing of groundwater samples and the tour were part of a two-pronged investigation into allegations of toxic waste dumping by Amerock as well as the possibility of leaking underground gasoline storage tanks that lie north of Auburn Street and west of Central Avenue. IEPA officials also toured sites of potential underground storage tanks in the area.

Before taking the tour with the IEPA team around the bike path and on Amerock property, TRRT had agreed to disclose its sources to the IEPA after garnering permission from those sources to be part of the investigation.

“The Rock River Times will continue to cooperate with state officials while holding to the highest journalistic standards,” TRRT Editor & Publisher Frank Schier said. “We want to help determine the source or sources of the groundwater pollution and land pollution. We will contribute to the investigation of Amerock as the alleged source of pouring toxic chemicals into Kent Creek and the land north of Kent Creek from 1956 until 1974 or beyond.”

The Rock River Times began looking into allegations of contaminated water that were made by residents during two town hall meetings held at the Northwest Community Center in July and August. Allegations have been made that the land owned by the NWCC was formerly the site of a private dump in the 1950s and 1960s, and may have been used as a toxic waste disposal site of chemicals transported from Amerock. IEPA officials and Northwest Community Center officials have not formerly met to discuss touring grounds owned by the NWCC to look for toxic drums and other materials that have been alleged to have been dumped on the grounds.

“We haven’t met with them yet,” said NWCC Executive Director Jim Peterson. “We’re going to wait until we meet with them before we do anything. We’re trying to schedule a meeting with them. We’ll see what that meeting brings, and then we’ll move forward. Before we do anything, we want to meet with them and see what’s up because we want to make sure we do the right thing. We will comply with whatever requests are reasonable, but we want to meet with them first before we comment on anything and before we do anything. We will wait until we hear from them, and we will see what accommodations can be made.”

When the IEPA investigation will be completed is unknown at this time.

Meanwhile, TRRT has received numerous e-mails inquiring about where people who lived in the neighborhood west of Amerock and former employees from Amerock can go to report illnesses they believe are a result of toxic poisoning.

Former Amerock employees reporting a lack of workplace standards while working at the facility can call the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration main number at 1-800-321-OSHA. A complaint still can be filed online at the national OSHA website because Amerock is still in business nationally. The Aurora Area Office at (630) 896-8700 handles complaints against Rockford businesses currently in operation. Ask for the Compliance Department.

The OSHA office in Aurora reported no inspections of Amerock in the 1970s. No complaints were made against Amerock or then-owner Stanley Works. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Those residents in the area who believe their health has been impacted by their private well water should contact the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Rockford Regional Office, 4302 N. Main St., Rockford, or call the office at (815) 987-7511. Those with health concerns should ask to speak with Clay Simonson, environmental health supervisor for Rockford Regional Office of the IDPH.

For more about the allegations made against Amerock and about possible groundwater contamination, see the investigative reports as well as other stories provided online by clicking here.

From the Oct. 12-18, 2011, issue

Occupy Rockford, a branch of Occupy Wall Street, has formed. The new group marched Tuesday, Oct. 11, from Beattie Park, 401 N. Main St., to City Hall, 425 E. State St., with more than 107 protesters in what they called a “Jobs Not Cuts March.” Last Saturday, Oct. 8, 50 people attended the second organizational meeting. Their signs on Tuesday read: “The Math!! 99%>1% We will be heard!,” “End Corporate Greed,” “People Over Politics,” “End the Fed,” “Tax the Rich” and “Save The American Dream!” According to The New York Times: “Occupy Wall Street is a diffuse group of activists who say they stand against corporate greed, social inequality and other disparities between rich and poor. On Sept. 17, 2011, the group began a loosely organized protest in New York’s financial district, encamping in Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park open to the public, in Lower Manhattan. The idea, according to some organizers, was to camp out for weeks or even months to replicate the kind, if not the scale, of protests that had erupted earlier in 2011 in places as varied as Egypt, Spain and Israel.” Occupy Rockford has scheduled an organizational meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Katie’s Cup and is planning another major event Saturday, Oct. 15, most likely downtown. For information about upcoming events, go to www.occupyrockford.org and the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Rockford-IL/157279287695621 and Twitter at @OccupyRockford. (Photo by Frank Schier)

From the Oct. 12-18, 2011, issue

Be a child’s voice in court. Be a CASA volunteer. Winnebago County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) will hold fall training beginning October 2011. Most classes will be in the evening.

A commitment of one-and-a-half to two years is required following training to keep consistency in the lives of the children with whom you’ll be working. Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age with a high school diploma or GED. A criminal background check will also be done.

CASA represents children who have been abused or neglected, advocating for their best interests in Juvenile Abuse & Neglect Court, with the goal of finding a safe, permanent home for every child.

Many of the CASAs who advocate for CASA children work full time, and some work with a partner. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or have questions about the program, call the CASA office at (815) 319-6880.

From the Sept. 28-Oct. 4, 2011, issue

By Richard S. Gubbe
Contributing Writer

From 1956 until 1974, Amerock Co. had a blatant disregard for the waters that flowed in Kent Creek, the land around the factory and the residents who lived there, according to allegations made by former employees.

After hearing from residents in the neighborhood that borders the plant to the west, former Amerock workers confirmed much of the pollution described in the first two parts of this series came from inside the plant.

Through constant, deliberate dumping of toxic chemicals that were used in the home hardware manufacturing plant, The Rock River Times has learned by interviewing employees, some of whom were nearby residents, that the pollution was so rampant between 1956 and 1974, the effects are still being felt around the plant at Auburn and Central.

From 1974 until the plant closed six years ago, persistent pollution could allegedly be seen coming from the plant’s roof.

Water experts suggest that the result of the improper disposal of plating chemicals and the sludge that plating created can be found in neighborhood wells, a nearby park and the local community center. For the first 16 years the plant operated as the keystone of the company, employees of Amerock have confirmed suspicions by neighbors that the pollution outside came from inside.

For decades, Amerock was the largest maker of cabinet hardware in the country. At its peak, Amerock employed as many as 1,900 people at the plant. Like many American manufacturing companies that came from modest beginnings, two Swedish immigrants named Reuben and Gedor Aldeen left Rockford’s formidable National Lock Co. in 1928 to establish the Aldeen Manufacturing Co. Reuben Aldeen had served on National Lock’s management team, and Gedor was the firm’s vice president of engineering.

Along with the Aldeens came a select group of other National Lock workers. Together, they comprised what some believe to be the first U.S. manufacturing company to concentrate solely on the production of cabinet hardware.

The new enterprise first rented space on the 12th floor of a 13-story structure on South Main Street known as the William Ziock Building. The equipment used to manufacture products during the company’s first year was crude, consisting of porcelain iceboxes and car batteries for plating.

When the 1930s arrived, the company changed its name to American Cabinet Hardware Corp. The company found success in the 1930s, and in 1933, unveiled a line of matching kitchen hardware.

After securing business from Andersen Windows in 1932, sales reached $3 million by the end of the decade, and expansion was in order. Two more sites in Rockford were opened in the 1940s. The company was a contributor to the war effort and hired many veterans after World War II ended.

In 1953, the Aldeens announced plans to build a $3 million plant on Auburn Street. Operations at the facilities on Seminary Street and Harrison Avenue would be moved. In 1954, Norris G. Aldeen, who started at the company in 1933 as an apprentice toolmaker, was named vice president of manufacturing.

The company, now Amerock Corporation, opened the new plant in 1956 that included acres of floor space, a 300-seat cafeteria and 1,000 parking spaces for 1,800 workers. A 40,000-square-foot addition came by 1960. More expansion followed in subsequent years.

In February 1965, Norris Aldeen became president. A $32 million merger with Connecticut-based toolmaker Stanley Works occurred in 1966. In addition to his role at Amerock, Norris Aldeen became vice president of Stanley Works and a member of its board. In 1968, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint charging the merger violated the Clayton Anti-Trust Act and had the potential for cornering the general hardware and cabinet hardware market. Amerock contested the FTC’s claim, but to no avail. Yet, more expansion ensued.

Amerock achieved record sales in 1971 from new products and new housing starts. The same year, the FTC instructed Stanley to sell Amerock by 1973. Although Stanley made an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the high court refused to hear the case. Lancaster, Ohio-based Anchor-Hocking Corp., a manufacturer of kitchenware with sales of $367 million, acquired Amerock for $32 million. In 1987, Amerock was purchased by Newell Rubbermaid. Norris Aldeen died in 1997 in Naples, Fla.

In the past decade, Newell Rubbermaid relocated Amerock to Columbia, Md., then to Huntersville, N.C. The name Amerock, a kingpin in the Rockford mecca of manufacturing, was history, except for the complex that remained.

Newell sold the plant on Auburn Street last December to a company that specializes in cleaning up and restoring industrial properties. Denovo Properties, with offices in Chicago and Indianapolis, paid $2 million for the plant.

Why so little of a price for a property size can be explained by Denovo’s existence — to clean up pollution sites without absorbing liability. Denovo specializes in buying “distressed properties and subsequently restores them to commercially viable property,” and in many cases, the deals “protect previous owners and operators from future (EPA) claims or defaults,” according to its website.

A deluge of pollution

One of the jobs Bob Scroggins and Mike Molander both held in the 1960s and early 1970s was working the plating line. Both also were assigned to clean out the plating tanks.

“There was pretty nasty stuff in the plating department,” Scroggins said. “I had to shovel it out of there. We put the sludge in barrels. It was almost like mud, and it was mixed with hardware. It was nasty. There was a lot of cyanide, and you would get burns, and your skin would itch.”

Plating is a covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating is used to decorate objects and for corrosion inhibition, among other things. Many plating baths include cyanides of other metals. These free cyanides facilitate anode corrosion, help to maintain a constant metal ion level and contribute to conductivity. Additionally, nonmetal chemicals such as carbonates and phosphates may be added to increase conductivity.

“I had to pump out the solutions into a tank,” Molander said. “I had to get down in those tanks below (the plating line) and get the sludge on the bottom, get rid of the carbonates and the hardware that had fallen off. I had to separate the metal from the sludge. Sludge would go in the metal barrels, and we recycled the metal.”

Molander said he would take the 55-gallon barrels of sludge “out in the back … to the dock at night. When I would come in the next day, they’d be gone.”

Geraldine Russell, a 20-year employee who was transferred from the Harrison Avenue plant, walked to work through a gate on the west side of the building that exited onto Alliance Avenue. She walked over trenches of hoses that emptied fluids into and around the creek, one of which remains today. She also remembers walking by many 55-gallon drums of waste that would be there one day and gone the next. Her neighbor and friend on North Johnston Avenue, Bill Moore, was in charge of maintenance in those early years, she said.

“He said, ‘I don’t feel right doing things I’m doing,’” she recalled Moore saying. “There were 50 or 60 drums in the back by the dock. He just got rid of them. They dumped them in the back.”

Molander said the drains from the plating line and other machines in the department ran directly into the creek. He also said the gate to the junkyard next door was open until 1971.

“A lot of the foam that was coming out into the creek came from that soap tumbler,” he said. “It looked like laundry mat soap. A lot of those lines from the tumblers drained to the far west wall. That drain went outside. I know that some of those drainage lines (from other machines) ran outside.

“Those (at the creek) came from the building, that’s a fact,” Molander added.

Scroggins also saw hoses that came from the plant.

“They had two hoses that drained into the creek,” Scroggins said.

Scroggins also recalled the barrels on skids in the back of the building.

“There was an open fence to the property next door,” he said, referring to the junkyard that is now the site of the Northwest Community Center and a city park.

“Everybody was told to keep their mouth shut and do their job,” Scroggins said.

A purple haze

Russell, now 73 and residing in Naples, Fla., was brought over to the new plant after it opened, and she ran a plating line that used manual methods of hanging chrome and zinc hardware on racks and dipping them into a plating mixture. She was armed only with gloves.

“All those fumes,” Russell recalled. “There weren’t any exhaust fans. The only time I saw fans was when they was [sic] painting.”

Several former employees, including Scroggins, Molander, Pat Fausett and Tina Bankey, recalled a purple haze above the plating area.

Scroggins, now 62, began working at Amerock in 1967 and worked for six years in the plating department. He ran the plating lines before and after they were updated with improvements.

“We plated without a mask,” he recalled.

He and Molander said the haze came from a bad mixture in the plating tanks that happened often and led to evacuations of the plant.

“They cleared the building out pretty fast,” Scroggins said.

Molander said there was little training for jobs there, and mixtures of chemicals in the tanks was done by employees, not chemists, until the mid-1970s.

“It really smelled in there,” Molander said. “There were no fans at all. Fumes would rise out of the tanks. And I was subjected to that.”

Bankey, who worked at Amerock from 1988 to 1995 as a material handler and in plating, said: “I saw clouds of blue smoke in the aisles while using my forklift. I was told ‘Don’t worry, there’s no cyanide there.’”

Fausett worked at Amerock on two occasions, and said even in the later years after fans were installed that a haze could be seen.

“If the blowers stopped working or they had a bad mixture from the plating tanks, they would get a haze and have to have people leave the area,” she said.

In poor health

Russell said she is the only one of her friends and neighbors still alive. She has had a triple bypass and other serious illnesses.

“Everyone who worked there is dead,” she said. “My legs ache, and my feet have knots in them. I take 10 or 11 pills a day. All my friends are dead and gone now. Everyone I knew has died.”

Scroggins said: “I wore rubber glove, and the cuffs would get wet. I always had a rash and chemical burns on my arms.”

Molander said the chemicals that remained were quite caustic. “You would get carbonate on your skin,” he said. “It was always on my body. I have cyanide lesions.”

Fausett said quite a few women from the plating line got cancer around the year 2000, and others had breast cancer. “It just seemed weird to us,” she said.

As for Molander, he said, “I don’t have any friends left that were on the shop floor.”

Up on the roof

When blowers were installed in the building, they went to the roof. When it rained, the residual chemicals that came down on the roof from the blowers would go down drain pipes on the sides of the building.

Bankey, who sometimes went up on the roof, said “a silver vapor was coming inside the building.”

Fausett, 53, said the practice continued.

“The roof blowers that used to suck the fumes out of the air went to the roof, then stuff would settle on the roof,” Fausett said.

Molander said when it rained, cyanide went into the creek and around the building from the drain pipes.

“The water on the roof was never treated,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone ever did treat it.”

The ‘Pollution Room’

During the “transition period” from 1972 to 1974 when the company allegedly stopped emptying chemicals into Kent Creek, a “Pollution Room,” or environmental lab, was built inside the plant on the northeast corner.

“When they built it, they were pretty proud of it,” Scroggins said.

Molander worked as the pollution control technician after transferring out of plating. He said drains were put in, and the water was neutralized before it was sent down a sewer to the Rockford Sanitary District.

“I would neutralize that water — change cyanide to cyanate,” he said. “They can handle cyanate at the Sanitation Department. Anything that was considered waste water was my job. I reconditioned the water, and 100 percent of it came to me. I would record the ph and look at samples.”

Molander, now 61, said the lab also would control the plating mixture after hiring a chemist, replacing what he called the “learn by mistake” method. He also was responsible for submitting reports to a supervisor for submission to the newly-formed EPA. He said the City of Rockford would make unannounced visits to test the water before it went into the sewer. Molander also said Amerock hired an industrial hygienist in the mid-’70s.

“The Aldeens were good people,” Molander said. “The people who worked for them were not. I think they (upper management) were trying to do the right thing. Their knowledge was limited. The right arm didn’t know what the left arm was doing.”

Sources for this story included Answers.com, Chicago Tribune and Newell Rubbermaid.

Family member of Ray Robbel responds to allegations in part two of this series

In a recent article by Richard S. Gubbe in the Sept. 14 edition [“Water expert warns of impending toxic problems”] … , he states that it had been reported by a Roger Hare that Ray Robel (should be Robbel) of Ray’s Appliance was seen dumping “coolant” and Freon in the back of the store. The reporter should try and get the facts straight. Freon is a gas, and it dissipates into the air, and it does not penetrate the soil. It could not be transported in buckets; Freon is under pressure when you purchase it, and when it is in a freezer/air conditioner/refrigerator, it is under pressure and sealed. Freon is the only coolant used. I have no idea what else he could be referring to. Furthermore, for almost 40 years, there was a well that was used for the drinking water for the apartment and store at this address. Do you really think he would poison his own family?

Hare does not have his facts correct — my husband, Ray Robbel Jr., was also involved in this business, and there was no dumping of chemicals around the former Ray’s Appliance building at 4201 Auburn St., Rockford, Ill. Because my husband is still alive, I believe that a correction should be offered and that his name and that of his father’s should not be slandered, nor should there be implication that the problems with the water in that area are a result of their business, which was there for 40 years.

Respectfully,

Vixanna S. Robbel

Winnebago, Ill.

Editor’s note: The Rock River Times regrets the misspelling of Ray Robbel’s last name and not making clear that Freon is indeed a gas. However, multiple sources have alleged they witnessed Ray Robbel dump waste from refrigerators and air conditioners on the land behind his refrigerator and air conditioner repair shop.

From the Sept. 21-27, 2011, issue

This map describes where the dump site of barrels, heavy metals and other junk were dumped around the Northwest Community Center as well as the toxic pond where 55-gallon drums of toxic sludge were dumped and buried. The underground gas tanks are located on Greenview Avenue at a private residence and Day Avenue at the site of a former grocery store. (Image courtesy of Google Maps, Jeff Helberg)

• IEPA assigns investigator to possible Superfund site

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a three-part series detailing toxic waste dumping in the area west of Central Avenue and north of Auburn Street in Rockford. Click here to read part one of this series.

Drainage pipe emptying into Kent Creek from the former Amerock plant. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

By Richard S. Gubbe
Contributing Writer

Just how much toxicity lies in the wells in the neighborhood north of Auburn Street has forced county and state health officials to test, retest and analyze data as to where the most lethal wells lie.

Complaints by citizens in the area have led The Rock River Times (TRRT) to investigate how Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) got there. But what other chemicals or heavy metals are floating in the wells on Alliance and Soper avenues, as well as nearby wells on Johnston, Greenview, Parkside, Day and Liberty? Are public officials providing a true sampling of what lies below the surface, 25 to 50 feet, even 100 feet below?

TRRT interviewed two groundwater experts to give answers to some residents who voiced dissatisfaction after two town meetings were held. Neither expert painted a rosy picture about what could be a bigger problem than the Winnebago County Health Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health painted for nearby residents.

When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set guidelines for acceptable limits of chemicals in private wells and city water supplies, the agency put forth a list of chemicals and “MCL” guidelines for the “maximum contaminant level.”

As one local expert related, “If you go into a bar and have a shot a whiskey, that’s one thing, but when you go in and have a shot of everything, it’s going to hurt you.”

The problem with EPA guidelines, both experts said, is they don’t include chemical compounds that have been introduced on the planet since the early 1990s that are used in farming, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. That number can range upward from 80,000 new compounds, depending on whom you ask.

“At least 80,000 is a pretty standard number,” said Chris Nidel, who has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from MIT and who is also one of the country’s leading environmental lawyers from Washington, D.C. “If no one is looking for them (a new compound), they’re not going to find them.”

Nidel quit his job as an engineer in the pharmaceutical industry when he became disgusted with how the industry was poisoning people and the planet they live on.

Nidel files lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs who have suffered from toxic dumping, such as those related to the famous Love Canal case. In the mid-1970s, Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, N.Y., gained international attention after it was revealed in the press that the site had formerly been used to bury 21,000 tons of toxic waste by Hooker Chemical (now Occidental Petroleum Corporation). Hooker Chemical had sold the site to the Niagara Falls School Board in 1953 for $1, with a deed explicitly detailing the presence of the waste, and including a liability limitation clause about the contamination. Hooker Chemical was found to be negligent in their disposal of waste, though not reckless in the sale of the land, in what became a test case for liability and causation.

Last week, TRRT revealed allegations by residents in the area around the Northwest Community Center that Amerock Corp. was involved in dumping toxic waste into Kent Creek and the surrounding area directly from the plant and in 55-gallon drums buried nearby.

“There’s no question that the chemicals used in metal working and degreasing and metal plating from taking raw steel, polishing and reforming it, are linked to cancer and childhood leukemia, without a doubt,” Nidel said in an exclusive TRRT interview. “Chlorinated solvents such as TCE and PCE and heavy metals such as arsenic, nickel, zinc and chromium — some are more toxic than others.”

The site of former alleged toxic dumping is now the Mel Anderson Memorial Path. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

Maggie Carson, spokesman for the Illinois Environment Protection Agency (IEPA) in Springfield, Ill., told TRRT Sept. 9 that an IEPA investigator and team of IEPA researchers have been assigned to look into pollution in the area in and around Soper and Alliance avenues. Carson said information “has been provided to members of the staff involved in this issue, and they do plan to follow up. An individual has been assigned to do archival research.” She added with as much information that has come forward, the investigation will not be quick.

She said an agent was in Rockford Sept. 7.

“With this many properties, this takes time,” Carson said. “We will put something out when we have something to report.”

Carson said difficulty arises because tracking businesses involved is not often easy.

“If they are old, there is a bit of a problem,” she said. “Addresses change, or there’s more than one address.”

Nidel, who called the EPA “a necessary step” to help clean up the situation, said for the area to be classified as a Superfund site, such as the one designated on the southeast side of Rockford in the 1980s, two factors are involved: degree of toxicity and threat to the environment and/or the public. But there is also the question of budget and economics. He said the EPA will likely “take a score sheet” and rate toxicity of the chemicals as well as the threat posed to the public.

“That number helps determine whether a site is added to the Superfund list, but it’s also relative to the budget,” Nidel asserted.

Carson was adamant that the agency will conduct a full and thorough investigation.

“Our goal at this agency is to find a viable party that could be accountable for this,” Carson said.

County officials have stated the well water tested in the area has shown the existence of benzene, toluene and xylene, all found in gasoline. By testing wells at different levels and at different times, they hope to find the source by plotting the “plume” of toxic chemicals derived.

Nidel said if you dump VOCs into the ground from a gasoline storage tank, some toxins go into the groundwater, some into the soil.

“If you have enough of it,” he said, “it forms a second layer on the groundwater.”

If you put enough of these in the ground, and they don’t dissolve in the water, they sit on top of the water like oil and vinegar. He said these chemicals are referred to as NAPLs (nonaqueous phase liquids) and can be either “light” or “dense.”

A Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL) is a groundwater contaminant that is not soluble and has a lower density than water, which is the opposite of “dense,” NAPLE or DNAPL. Once LNAPL infiltrates through the soil, it will rest at the height of the water table, since LNAPL is less dense than water, but will continue to contaminate the aquifer. Gasoline is an example of an LNAPL.

“If they find LNAPL, they’ve got a big problem,” Nidel said. He said taking samples at different levels can give different results. “It’s not rocket science, but it can be complex, and proper characterization can require a number of samples at a number of different depths.”

Nidel said water samples taken from shallow wells could show two phases — pure chemical and saturated water, where samples taken in deeper wells do not, thereby masking the true extent of the problem.

“I do know that if there’s a nonaqueous phase, but if there is, it’s going to take a whole lot longer than a handful of years to go away,” Nidel said. “Gas station plumes can extend a mile or more.”

While benzene, toluene and xylene are found in gasoline, they are also used as a degreaser in the plating industry.

The EPA began monitoring gasoline storage tanks in 1989, according to Carson. The program is titled Registered Underground Storage Tanks. Those that are found to have leaked are classified as LUST sites, for leaking underground storage tanks. She said “the database from the state fire marshal registered underground tanks historically back to 1974.”

There are 169 storage tank sites in the 61103 ZIP code alone on the EPA site and more than 15 in the immediate area around Auburn and Central.

TRRT has learned three more gasoline storage tanks could exist in the area that are not on the EPA list. Unless they were emptied and sealed, like the one at the former site of Kegel Motorcycle Co. at 3833 Auburn St., removed in the 1980s, there’s no way of knowing what is leaking into the soil and groundwater. TRRT found and reported to the IEPA three possible unregistered storage tanks on Auburn Street, Day Avenue and Greenview Avenue.

Carson said the extent of the contamination “would depend on the geology of the area, the type of contaminant, and the volume of the product spilled.”

The problem could be compounded if an additive, MTBE, was used in the gasoline, Nidel said.

Methyl tert-butyl ether, MTBE, is an organic compound that is a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid that is immiscible (or does not mix) with water. MTBE was used to raise the octane level in gasoline, and its use has been controversial in the U.S. because of its occurrence in groundwater.

MTBE gives water an unpleasant taste at very low concentrations, and thus can render large quantities of groundwater non-potable. MTBE is often introduced into water-supply aquifers by LUST. The chemical and physical properties of MTBE, as well as its resistance to natural degradation, cause it to travel faster and farther than many other components of gasoline when released into an aquifer.

“MTBE can migrate very far, and is typically found at the leading edge of the plume emanating from the leaking tank,” Nidel said.

Nidel said a complete VOC scan is needed at different levels of wells in the area at numerous locations to see “how far the plume has migrated. What the contaminants of concern are is really critical to identify early to ensure that you are testing for all possible contaminants.”

“This could potentially go a mile or more,” Nidel said. “Many of these contaminants can go through your foundation, a phenomenon known as ‘vapor intrusion.’ The fact you’re not drinking the water doesn’t mean you’re definitely safe. Take a bath in the stuff, and you may just be pickling yourself. There’s often more exposure to toxic chemicals through bathing and showering rather than drinking. They (contaminants) want to come out of the water, and they may either be inhaled or absorbed through the skin.”

Nidel warned of other contaminants, sinkers such as PCEs (perchloroethylene), another industrial solvent — also used in dry-cleaning — that can penetrate downward as much as 100 feet or more.

“You can have worse contamination deeper down,” he said. “Chemicals shoot through the cracks into deeper water that you otherwise thought was clean. There’s a risk of that, for sure, depending on the local hydrogeology.”

“Until we complete the research, we really can’t be definite about it,” Carson said.

When asked is LUST exposure a threat to the city water supply, Carson said: “Typically not, since these public water supply wells are usually deep. Also, public water supply water is extensively monitored, tested and treated before it is distributed.”

Nidel is worried that childhood leukemia can develop from exposure in homes in this area. He said the effects of VOCs and heavy metals in groundwater can be devastating to the health of a child.

“If you give a shot of whiskey to a 2-year-old, the effect will be different than to an adult,” he said. The same is certainly true for exposure to toxic chemicals.

The neighborhood

“When you took a shower and you didn’t feel like you took a shower,” Russell said of her home on North Johnston. “We took our water down and checked it, and they said it was OK in the 1960s. I should have checked it more, but they told us nothing in there would hurt us. The water never smelled good. It had a rotten egg smell. If I would have known what was in it, I wouldn’t have lived there for 20 years. If they would have told us, we would have moved out, you know.”

Winnebago County Health Department officials and Illinois Department of Public Health officials have conducted tests over the past two months and have determined VOCs run in the well water that lies beneath properties on Johnston and Soper avenues. Neighbors on other blocks and those from tested houses have voiced their displeasure and concern at town meetings at the Northwest Community Center conducted by city, county and state officials who say hooking up the city water will eliminate their problems. Officials hope that by testing wells, they will show the source of the pollution.

Roger Hare, who grew up in the neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, said he and friends used to see the owner of a nearby appliance store on Auburn Street between Soper and Alliance dump coolant and Freon in the ground in the back of Ray Robel’s refrigerator and air conditioner repair shop.

“We would be out back of there where kids would hide behind there and smoke cigarettes,” Hare said. “Ray would come out and say ‘get away from there, that stuff is flammable and poison.’ We watched him dump all those buckets that came out of air conditioners and deep freezers into the ground.”

The possibility of other dumping by the residents and nearby businesses could also have contributed to the tainted groundwater, and the evidence of a high incidence of deaths from cancer and other diseases is plentiful.

Geraldine Russell, 73, who lived at 1316 N. Johnston and who worked at Amerock, has lived through a quadruple bypass and suffers from leg problems. Her husband, John Charles Russell, has survived a triple bypass and suffers from incontinence. Two of her three children have died, and all of her friends have died, she said.

“My husband had prostate cancer, a triple bypass, and there’s something wrong with his kidneys,” Russell said.

Although many neighborhood residents like Russell worked in factories, they all drank from the groundwater under their homes, whether rented or owned.

All of the people interviewed for this story reported illness to themselves, their friends and their pets. Russell, for example, lost four dogs to premature deaths.

Hare and friend LaVern Benjamin said most of their friends are dead, and the rest suffer from severe health problems. They said doctors have told them they may have less than two years to live. Benjamin grew up near Hare and can barely walk, has memory problems and needs a new liver. Hare has offered his health records as proof.

TRRT staff members went into homes on Johnston and Soper and found a distinct odor of gasoline emanating from kitchen faucets.

Hare, who has lived in the same house the past two years that Geraldine Russell lived for 20 years, said: “I’m worried about the kids down here now. They’re drinking this water. This water has always been a little smelly and rusty.” He said he also has suffered from kidney stones and joint problems.

“My sister has had the same joint problems,” Hare said. “Now, their kids are starting to have symptoms. My girlfriend was healthy until she moved in here.”

Hare and Benjamin exhibited sores on their legs, which were swollen. Both had difficulty walking the bike path that now runs along Kent Creek. Benjamin needs a transplant, he said.

“I’m so sick, but my doctors don’t know why up in Madison,” he said of the VA physicians in Wisconsin. “They gave me two years (to live). Being a veteran, I’m quite confident I’ll get one (a liver transplant), but there’s always that chance I won’t.”

Paul Kegel owns property at 1304 N. Johnston after growing up seven blocks south on the same street. He’s been a longtime friend of Hare’s. He was part-owner of Kegel Motorcycle Co. until the mid-1980s. His father started the company on Auburn Street. His brother, Marc Kegel, said the underground tank at Kegel’s was removed in the mid-1980s.

“I would not put my hands in Roger’s water,” Paul Kegel said.

Kegel, whose property is hooked up to city water, went to the first and second town hall meetings and thinks residents aren’t being told everything they should know.

“The city and county guys were rather smug about what was going on there,” he said. “They were showing that when we attended that meeting. They’re not there to help the people. They are there to cover it up. I’m encouraging people to stand up for their rights.”

Water tests

Three basic types of tests can be done on well water: first, for Coliform and nitrites; second, for VOCs; and third, for heavy metals.

The easiest, and most simple, is a test for Coliform and nitrites. Nitrites come from agricultural runoff and include herbicides and pesticides. Coliform is more commonly know as E-coli.

The Illinois Department of Public Health advises that, “Bacteria and parasites that cause illness can enter a well in many ways. Whether the contamination comes from the materials and tools used in the well’s construction, from septic failures near the well or from feedlot runoff, the bacteria and parasites must be destroyed to ensure safe water.”

State and county officials urged well owners to pour chlorine in their wells to rectify or prevent problems. Other health advisers say chlorine only adds to the prospects of health problems.

Tests for VOCs, which cost more but show the presence of such toxic substances as benzene, toluene and xylene, were found in the sampling of wells taken by the Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD) and Illinois Department of Public Health. As noted, those three compounds are found in gasoline, but benzene also is used as a solvent to clean tools.

WCHD official Todd Marshall said VOC levels decreased from the first sample taken, and the second sample taken decreased as much as 70 percent.

“But they did the test right after it rained,” Kegel said, which may have had an impact on the levels detected by the sampling.

“You’re not going to see this type of reduction if it’s from long-term contamination,” Nidel said. “A 70 percent reduction is not something you’d see from degradation alone.”

The third type of test is far more expensive and shows the presence of heavy metals such as chromium, arsenic, barium, selenium and cyanide that can cause catastrophic illnesses. These chemicals are found in the plating process used at Amerock.

Sue Fuller, spokesman for the WCHD, said “additional tests will be conducted mid-month.” She said the WCHD “sent a letter to get a sampling from other homes.” She said the WCHD wants residents who have not contacted the county for tests as yet to come forward to get their water tested “to get a complete look at Soper and Alliance.”

But, she added, “We’re not doing heavy metals, only VOCs.”

Any further action must come from the Illinois EPA, she said.

Whether the pollution comes from underground storage tanks, abuses by businesses in the area over the last 60 years, or from private dumping by citizens in that area over the last 60 years, more and more residents have come forward to identify a problem with their wells.

A true representation of everything that lies in the wells will take more tests and at different depths, Nidel said.

Of the 200 or so homes in the immediate area, only about 30 rely on city water. For each home to hook up to city water will cost $2,000 to $3,000. Because these residents in the area are not City of Rockford residents, they will have to pay double for their water, as compared to those residents south of Auburn Street. The increased water pressure of city water has been known to cause problems with the plumbing in homes with well water.

For Russell, knowing her water was tainted provides a little comfort, but the attention has come far too late.

“It won’t bring my son and daughter back to us,” she said.

Postscript: Part three of this series will focus on Amerock and its employees. Anyone who would like to contribute as a former Amerock employee is invited to e-mail us at contact@rockrivertimes.com or by calling our office at (815) 964-9767.

From the Sept. 14-20, 2011, issue

Larry Kerska and Roger Hare work a metal detector for buried 55-gallon drums of suspected toxic waste. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

By Richard S. Gubbe
Contributing Writer

The Rock River Times (TRRT), with assistance from a local metal detector enthusiast, has discovered metallic material below the ground in the areas around the Northwest Community Center as well as the fields north of Kent Creek up near the border of Searls Park on Rockford’s west side.

In part one of last week’s special report in TRRT, local residents alleged the burial of 55-gallon drums, toxic substances and other materials went on from the 1950s through the 1980s in that area. Allegations of burying barrels of toxic substances in green pools in the area north of Kent Creek as well as the burial of barrels and other items under the football and baseball fields just north of the Northwest Community Center were made during the interviews with the local residents.

The metal detector used reacted to metal 1 inch to at least 2 feet down. Brushing aside soil in a bare spot in left field of the baseball field yielded a hollow object that appeared to be metal.

Larry Kerska, introduced to TRRT through J Kamin Jewelers at 250 N. Mulford Road in Rockford, took his sensitive metal detector, which retails for $1,000, in a search last Monday, Sept. 5. Kerska, member and former treasurer of the Northern Illinois Watch and Clock Collectors Club, has been using metal detection equipment for the past three years.

Accompanied by three witnesses, Kerska and TRRT walked the fields and woods north of the creek, as well as the athletic fields and land around the parking lot at the center.

“There’s too much metal under here. It registers too much,” Kerska said while walking out where the sludge ponds are alleged to exist.

Kerska’s metal detector also constantly showed the existence of metal under the athletic fields. The intermittent beeping showed signs of heavy metal every few feet in the area north of the creek and along the bike path. The detector also exhibited signals of metal underneath the asphalt bike path.

Unearthing could show where the materials came from, according to environmental law attorney Chris Nidel of Washington, D.C.

The metal detector used, the White’s Electronics 300, used a sensitive program called Relic that seeks out metals 2 feet deep, Kerska said.

Out in left field on the baseball diamond, one bare spot revealed metal sticking up just 1 inch below the surface. The area around the parking lot where the center stands “is loaded with metal underneath,” Kerska said.

Witnesses present included Rockford residents Paul Kegel, Roger Hare and Bryan Redington.

From the Sept. 14-20, 2011, issue

Last Saturday’s (Sept. 10) Rock River Sweep made 18 full boats for the Illinois Paddling Council (IPC) and the Prairie State Canoeists at the old Ace of Diamonds boat ramp. Tom Lindblade, IPC president, said the area from Black Hawk Park to Black Hawk Island is worse than the Chicago River for trash, adding, “We left way more than we took out.” He also said, “There’s a lot of big stuff from the flood.” Paddle and Trail provided a much-appreciated shuttle bus. (Photo by Tom Lindblade)

Universal Hovercraft to the rescue! With their facility just south of the Morgan Street bridge, Ryan Springer and Bill Zang responded to TRRT’s editor & publisher’s call, and took on the dangerous area below the Fordham Dam and the islands above the 15th Avenue bridge. “We found everything from old BB guns to bowling balls,” Springer said. Always picking up trash on their everyday runs, they also provided trash cans for the canoeists working the sweep. Springer said old tires and scrap metal really show up at low water and in the spring. He suggested two cleanups a year for the area. Next week: pics and notes from the sweep above the dam. (Photo by Frank Schier)

From the Sept. 14-20, 2011, issue

Broadway Covenant Church this month will start a class to help participants from Rockford and surrounding communities learn practical ways to handle personal and family finances.

“When we heard that seven out of 10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck, we knew we had to do something,” said Derek Melin, youth pastor at Broadway.

The church, at 3525 Broadway, Rockford, will offer Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class starting at 9 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 18.

“It’s the most practical stuff out there, and the most fun you’ll ever have learning about money,” said Melin.

Each of the 13 weekly Sunday morning sessions will start with a video presentation from financial coach Dave Ramsey, followed by discussion among class members.

“If you’re struggling with finances, you’ll learn that you are definitely not alone,” said Melin. The course teaches participants how to get out of debt, start saving money, and gain financial peace.

For more information about the Financial Peace class at Broadway Covenant Church, call Derek Melin at (815) 399-9296, ext. 12. More information about Dave Ramsey and the class is available at www.daveramsey.com.

From the Sept. 14-20, 2011, issue

Roger Hare (left) and LaVern Benjamin stand in front of the Northwest Community Center football field. Former residents allege the ground where the field is located was once used as a neighborhood dump and includes toxic chemicals. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

Area could be declared another EPA Superfund site

• Former and current residents and Amerock employees recall toxic waste dumping in area west of Central Avenue, north of Auburn Street

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series exploring the pollution caused by toxic waste dumping in the area north of Auburn Street and west of Central Avenue on Rockford’s west side.

By Richard S. Gubbe
Contributing Writer

Roger Hare and LaVern Benjamin took a slow walk around the woods where they played as children around Kent Creek near the old Amerock plant. They recalled playing in and around the creek as kids in the 1950s and 1960s. They recalled the names of their friends, most of whom never saw 60 years of age.

They may never see 60, either.

As the two walked gingerly along the bike path north of the Northwest Community Center on North Johnston Avenue, they expressed concern for children who play there today.

“It’s too late for me,” said Benjamin, who has experienced myriad health problems. “But I worry about the kids who play here now.”

A drainage pipe that comes from Amerock pours into Kent Creek. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

Both Benjamin and Hare say their doctors have told them they’re going to die in less than two years. They both agree their health problems stem from the chemicals they were exposed to while playing in the creek behind the Amerock plant.

The testimonials and physical evidence uncovered by The Rock River Times over the past months show their claims are credible.

Long before the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in 1970, Benjamin, Hare and numerous other residents in the area and workers at the Amerock plant have recalled toxic waste dumping in the area that lies west of Central Avenue and north of Auburn Street.

The Rock River Times has interviewed a dozen witnesses independently who confirmed the area has been a toxic wasteland for nearly 55 years, a place where garbage was dumped and where toxic chemicals poured into Kent Creek and into the fields behind and around the Northwest Community Center.

Amerock workers and their children have told horrific accounts of playing in the fields and in the creek while the homes they lived in were spewing toxic waste up from their wells into the drinking and bathing water. There has been an unusually high number of deaths of the children who lived in homes north of Auburn Street. Those still alive are walking medical nightmares.

The field where the pools of toxic chemicals were allegedly poured in and covered up. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

Until recently, nothing was ever brought to light about the dumping or the tainted wells. Dozens of interviews, water tests for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Coliform (E-coli) and heavy metals along with grotesque medical reports show the area is toxic.

The Rock River Times has uncovered testimony of the pollution from residents and former Amerock workers who expose massive toxic dumping by residents and businesses, along with locations of underground gasoline tanks in the area that point to the possibility of another EPA Superfund site in an area that lies just outside city limits.

Geraldine Russell, who ironically lived for 20 years at the same address Hare does now at 1316 N. Johnston Ave., across the street from the Northwest Community Center, recalled her loss of two children. Russell’s children grew up in the house within walking distance of the Amerock hardware manufacturing plant.

Her more than 20-year career at Amerock dates back prior to the first years the plant opened its facility on Auburn Street in 1956. She worked in the cyanide plating line, ate lunch and walked to and from work in the toxic wasteland behind Amerock. She has watched two of her three children die of “natural” causes long before the age of 50. Many other children who lived around them never saw the age of 60.

“I must be a tough, old bird,” Russell, now 73, said from her home in Naples, Fla. “We lived there over 20 years. Everyone I knew has died. All my friends are gone now.”

Her son, “Big Mike” Russell, was a happy-go-lucky neighborhood protector who died at age 42. Mike and his friends, who included Hare and Benjamin, always played in the creek and around the creek. They even camped out there on weekends. Geraldine Russell said the neighbor kids looked forward to the outings where they would build a fire after pitching a tent around a chemical backdrop.

“They’d go camping on Kent Creek and get a pillow case of food to bring down there,” she recalled. “They always had a great time there. Every week, they would have a party and cook out on the grill.”

The creek and the surrounding fields north and west of Amerock was where all the neighborhood children played, with or without their parents’ permission.

“Our parents would say ‘don’t go down there; there’s poison down there,’” Hare recalled.

The boys were between 6 and 12 years old. They frolicked in the creek, which was much deeper than it is today. They ran around pools of what they described as a green gel the color of Mountain Dew. Benjamin would race his brother home through the ponds, navigating their way across the dirt that separated the ponds of green goo.

Another view of the field where the pools of toxic chemicals were allegedly poured in and covered up. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

“We’d come through there and race to get home,” Benjamin recalled. “There was a ridge of dirt we ran on and on each side was swamp. We didn’t know any better.”

Hare said a dare would often lead to immersion in the ponds.

“Occasionally, we’d bet,” Hare said. “‘I bet you a Tootsie roll you won’t dive in there. It had a terrible smell to it.”

One day, their friend, Doug McKinney, took the dare and paid in blood.

“Doug McKinney dove in there for a cigarette,” Hare recalled. “Ronnie Hinkle bet him a cigarette he wouldn’t dive in there. He stood on a 55-gallon drum and dove in there and laid his head open. We had to carry him back to this house and call the ambulance to take him to the hospital and stitch him up. He was about 10 then.”

Geraldine recalled the incident vividly.

“Doug McKinney dove in and cut his head, and my son saved his life,” Russell said. Benjamin, Hare and Geraldine Russell and her son, John, all confirmed in separate interviews that “Big Mike” carried McKinney to the Russell house.

Geraldine’s son, John Wayne Russell, 57, recalled the incident from his home in Naples, Fla.

“Doug McKinney just about decapitated himself on a barrel,” John Russell said. “He almost cut the top of his head off. It peeled his head back and descalped him. Mike carried him to the house.”

Benjamin, a veteran, tells of the drums in the ponds and the drums in the field just west of Amerock.

“They would dig one hole, bury drums, cover them up with the dirt when they dug another one,” Benjamin said. “They buried the drums and covered them up.”

The field just south of Kent Creek was used as a neighborhood and business dumping ground. Geraldine Russell said everything was dumped there, including cars.

“They would charge the kids a quarter a swing,” she said of a sledge hammer used to help crush the cars before they were buried. The kids, she said, paid to help compact the cars for burial. Hare, Benjamin and Russell all said residents used to take the drums out of the landfill after tipping them over and use them for burning trash. They said the barrels that were full had a green liquid with a white, foamy top. The ones that had been dumped had sludge on the bottom.

Where the football field is now was a private dump site owned by Vince Collins, now deceased.

“They dumped everything down there,” Benjamin said. “It was the dump for the whole neighborhood. It was huge. Then, it was all covered up. You could go back there with a metal finder right now and everywhere you’d go, you’d find something.”

Hare said dirt to bury drums and garbage also came from the construction of the Auburn Manor apartments in the early 1960s.

“There’s hundreds of them back there,” Hare said of the drums. “I never seen anyone remove them. They are underneath the football field, and a lot of them are in the ponds. They rolled them into the ponds. There were craters back there. They covered them up when they built Auburn Manor Apartments, dump truck after dump truck would go down the street. The football field is just garbage underneath, everybody’s garbage in this neighborhood. We all took it down there. It was $7 or $6 to dump it. That’s all the guy charged. It was all a Rockford landfill. People pulled their trucks in there and pushed out everything.”

Hare said dump trucks would drive dirt across a shallow part of the creek to bury the ponds with dirt. There was also a piece of heavy equipment used. Today, no trees grow where the ponds are alleged and where trees grow surrounding them just south of the border of Searles Park.

“They had the creek dammed up at one point, and the water backed up into people’s yards,” Hare said. “They moved them pools around. They had a crane that they dug them out with. When they dug a new one, they would cover the barrels from the old one when they dug a new pond. When there’s snow on the ground, you can see the craters.”

Benjamin echoed Hare’s story and added a strange addendum.

“Vince Collins owned the land,” Benjamin said. “Vince Collins had a crane down there, and he dug the holes, and they brought the barrels in. As soon as it was all covered up, he called my dad to cut it up (the crane) with a cutting torch. It took three months to cut up the crane. It was a huge crane. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to cut up an expensive piece of equipment like that.” Benjamin and Hare said the crane had a barrel to dig dirt on the end.

“We knew it as the Collins junkyard,” John Russell said. “He had several big ponds. After the incident, Mr. Collins filled it in. I can remember I was about 12 or 13. He said why he filled it in was to keep the kids out, but it was really to cover up the barrels. I can remember his (LaVern’s) dad, Art, cutting it up with a torch.”

Russell said he lived on the block from 1959 up until he was 17 or 18. In the late 1970s, he went to work for Amerock.

“There was these tubes coming out from Amerock to Kent Creek,” he said. “Chemical suds. We would swim upstream to stay away from it. Later on, I worked for Amerock in the plating department. They still had the same drainage problem coming out the back from the plating department. I worked in the plating department for two or three years. Lots of hydrochloric acid. Amerock figured it would be cheaper to run it into the creek.

“You could see the drainage pipes hanging out. We were all kind of leery about it,” Russell continued. “It was purple and sudsy and smelled. It (the tube from the plant) was at least a foot in diameter and came directly from the factory about 150 yards to the north. It came out of the bank and into the creek.”

Russell recalled the same barrels that were seen on the Collins property were the same ones he saw at the plant.

“I do remember seeing the barrels on skids,” Russell said. “Mr. Collins used to run us off as kids. Mr. Collins had direct access up to the Amerock dock in back. The fence had an opening. There were four 55-gallon drums on the skid, and a couple days later, they were gone. Hindsight is always 20-20. After Doug had that accident, it was less than a month that they filled them up with the bulldozer. After the ponds were filled up, he (Collins) was never around anymore. We used to go hunting there when I was 17 or 18. You could see where they were covered up, and you could see iron sticking up. You had to be careful, I used to tell my buddies.”

From the connection of the Collins property to Amerock, Russell could only speculate how it all occurred.

“He was probably dealing straight with Amerock,” John Russell said. “He was probably the one driving the barrels, digging the holes and putting them in there. Amerock was probably paying him to get rid of them. I can distinctly remember four or five barrels on a skid, and the pond was 50 feet from the creek. There was a road across the creek about 50 feet from the bridge. There was a gate at the turn on Johnston to get in.”

Geraldine Russell noted the many barrels around the dump and behind Amerock. She would see them on her way to and from work, and when she went out back for lunch while working at the plant that made door wings, and decorative door handles for kitchens and bathrooms.

“There were 50 or 60 drums in the back by the dock in the back,” she said. “I thought they were carrying it off. I didn’t know they were dumping them.”

Russell said her next-door neighbor, Bill Moore, was the maintenance man at Amerock who did some of the dumping.

“He said, ‘I don’t feel right doing things I’m doing,’” she recalled. “He never would tell me where he dumped it, but he said he just got rid of it.” Moore is now deceased.

Russell said that one day she was navigating her way in the back of Amerock during the lunch break as many workers did to buy food from a local vendor. Workers had to cross over a long trench that was dug behind the building to the creek, she said.

“When we would go out for lunch, we had a board we could walk across. It was a board 14 inches wide,” she said. “They had a little chuck wagon that would come along. We had to walk across to get it. The ditch they dug was like a trench. Clumsy old me, I fell in it. I fell off the board into the hole on my head. The hole was 5 or 6 feet deep, like you were going to put pipelines down.”

Russell said she was knocked unconscious and had to be pulled out by fellow workers. She made an insurance claim, and said Liberty Mutual issued her a check on behalf of Amerock.

“They were mad because they had to pay me $15,000 for it,” she said. “I was such a good worker, though, they hired me back.”

Hare said the black hose went over the creek and emanated from the factory.

“They had a black rubber hose that went over the creek that was held up with a couple wires holding up the poles,” Hare said. “They ran their chemicals through and filled those ponds up. You could see the black hose come above the ground all the way across from Amerock.”

The creek, only yards behind the plant, was the main source of recreation.

“That’s where they’d go swimming,” Mrs. Russell said of her sons. A metal drainage tunnel still exists today that stops at the creek.

In the winter, John Russell said, kids could skate from Page Park past Central Avenue, except for the area around the drainage tunnel. That never froze over, he said.

“That drainage tunnel coming from Amerock down to the creek was constantly flowing with white foam,” Benjamin said. “We’d go down there and swim and wipe our feet under it. My dad, uncle and I would go down there and catch bullfrogs for catfishin’. But you won’t find nothing moving in there today, except the birds in the trees. No more bullfrogs.”

Hare said the creek was nearly 5 feet deep then, and they would get plenty dirty.

“White foam used to come out of that tunnel,” he said. “It was like a shower. We’d stand in the white foam and rinse off and scrub our heads, and then go up and put our clothes back on so our parents wouldn’t know we were swimming down there. The (creek) water was almost my height. We used to take the water in our mouth and squirt people. We were so stupid. We dug a slide out and used to slide into the water. It would burn your skin and put rashes on you. My mother would ask, ‘Where are you getting these rashes from?’”

Bryan Redington, now 55, remembers taking dips in the late 1960s. Although he lived south of Auburn on Shelly Drive, he now has sores on his legs like the others.

“Swimming in the creek was refreshing on a hot summer day,” he recalled. “But I remember seeing a good amount of dead fish around.”

Benjamin also said there were countless days swimming in the creek in the summer.

“There were suds this high,” Benjamin said, describing the toxins that came from the drainage tunnel that still remains. Back then, “It was constantly pouring and out. The suds would disperse into the water and get smaller and smaller away from the drainage tunnel.

“We were just kids,” Benjamin said. “We didn’t know any better.”

Postscript: Part two of this series will focus on how toxins in the well water have contributed to health problems suffered by residents in the neighborhood. Part three will look at working conditions at the Amerock plant into the 1980s. Past Amerock employees are urged to contact the The Rock River Times by e-mail to contact@rockrivertimes.com to offer any testimony to add to the information already gathered from employees spanning the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Residents who have suffered serious health maladies living there the last 30 years also are asked to contact TRRT.

From the Sept. 7-13, 2011, issue

Mulligan Restoration recently completed work on the south steeple of First Lutheran Church, 225 S. Third St. (Photo by Rory Mulligan)

By Susan Johnson
Copy Editor

First Lutheran Church, 225 S. Third St. in Rockford, has had its steeple restored by Mulligan Restoration. Dave Smith of Mulligan spoke with The Rock River Times and shared with us the church’s Centennial book, which documents the early history of the church.

“It’s the oldest Lutheran church in Rockford,” said Smith. “It was semi-restored in the late ’60s and again in 1994. We even have some of the architecture. One of the people on the church board has all the old newspaper clippings. We have an original blueprint.”

History of the immigrants

According to the Centennial book, published in 1954, the original Swedish immigrants (two families) had planned to go to Texas, but the ship they wanted had already sailed, so they took another ship loaded with Swedish iron. Three weeks into that voyage, they were hit by a terrible storm; the rudder broke, and the iron in the hold broke a seam, causing the ship to take in water.

By this time, they were off the coast of Ireland. A pilot had asked the captain to turn back, and he did. The sails were ripped to shreds; a mast had splintered and gone over the side. “The vessel drifted helplessly before the wind,” says the book. Conditions were desperate, and the cook quit handing out food. The people feared that they would all end up at the bottom of the sea. Finally, the storm spent itself, and the ship reached a port on the shores of Ireland.

After months of waiting, the immigrants again set sail across the Atlantic. It was still a stormy crossing, but after 10 weeks, they landed at Boston. “The land of promise did not look so promising when they arrived,” recalls the book. The little party went west to Chicago, and then on to Rockford, where the two families had rented a house for $3 a month. It was early summer of 1853.

Building a church in the community

“On Jan. 4-9, 1854, the combined Mississippi Evangelical Lutheran Conference met in Chicago. To this meeting the Rockford Swedish settlers who had met with Pastor Carlsson a few months before, sent a representative to present to the conference their spiritual and church needs. … Pastor Carlsson had come as a result of the request, and now the project had been launched,” says the book.

“A new bridge was being built across the river, and with the use of the water power, the first of Rockford’s industrial colony began the manufacture of the Manny reaper.” In 1855, while the building of the church was in progress, “many things were happening in the congregation, the city, and the country. Abraham Lincoln visited Rockford as an attorney for the Manny Reaper Company.”

The first church was ready for use in November 1855. It was in a house at North First and Rock streets and had no steeple. The first building constructed as a church was a brick structure built in February 1857 at First and Lafayette streets. The second church was built in 1867 and dedicated in 1870. In 13 years, the church had grown so much that it was decided to tear down the building and erect the third church in the same location. It was completed in 1884.

“The church bell from St. Louis World’s Fair was installed in 1905,” says the Centennial book. “Loreen Hall [the fellowship hall] was dedicated in 1951, in honor of Pastor Albert Loreen.”

Restoring the structure

Mulligan’s Restoration, at 121-123 S. Madison St., has shared much of the early history of Rockford’s east-side community with the church. “Mulligan was built in 1890 as the Pioneer Hall,” said Dave Smith. “In 1901, our building was turned into Germania Hall. In 1903, the Germania Club installed the first bowling alley in Rockford. The Germania Club ran it until 1970. From 1971-99, it was the Rockford Rescue Mission. Mulligan purchased the building in 2005 and started the restoration. We do general contracting, specializing in historic preservation and restoration, and also full-service remodeling. We restored the south steeple this year, with the north steeple to be restored next year.” The height of the steeple from ground to top of finial is 122 feet.

They have a long history with the church. “We have always done all the work for First Lutheran over the past 10 years,” he said. “But we just did the roof shingles and copper and whatnot on the bell tower. [The church] is an image of the church in Sweden, where the original immigrants came from.”

Pastor Loreen said, “The steeples are a real witness to the community that here is a place where we look up to God and worship Him, and hope that First Lutheran will never remove its steeples.”

From the Sept. 7-13, 2011, issue

In the days following the town hall meeting to discuss options for residents who may have tainted wells containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on Rockford’s west side, the Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD) has acquired one sample from a private well and plans to meet this week to discuss further testing for VOCs.

Residents in and around the affected area west of Central Avenue and north of Auburn Street, where volatile organic compounds have been found in well water, came to the meeting last Aug. 23 at Northwest Community Center in search of answers as to what to do about their homes and their health.

Sue Fuller, public information officer for the WCHD, said she could not release details of the private well that was tested last week.

“That’s confidential information,” she said, adding the officials will meet to “map out” plans this week for further testing of VOCs.

The public informational gathering held by city, county and state officials provided details of the results of water samples taken at 20 homes in early August after two homes in July were found to contain excessively high levels of components that make up gasoline.

After Todd Marshall of the WCHD described how the samples were taken and the timeline surrounding the testing, residents were allowed to ask questions about what the future holds for them as homeowners and renters.

Marshall said the most recent test results have shown a decrease of 70 percent in the number of parts per billion of VOCs found in the well water at the first two homes analyzed at state-approved labs of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. This area includes homes north of Auburn that include the streets of Alliance, Soper and Johnston avenues and end at Parkside to the north.

That news wasn’t comforting to most of the 25 in attendance, who came to relay both their health concerns, health issues and financial dilemmas they face.

While county officials are focused on the current testing, many residents say they have experienced problems for the past two and three years.

While the cause, or causes, of the tainted water were bandied about, residents also were told of the solutions — filtering their well water or connecting to the city’s water supply and closing off their wells permanently.

Emmit Capes of 1214 Soper connected to city water after his water tested with high amount of nitrites in January 2010. He said the WCHD tested his water two years ago and found no VOCs.

“My two granddaughters had sores on their arms,” Capes said of why he connected to the City of Rockford water system. “Putting chlorine in the well didn’t solve the problem.”

The nitrites, officials say, stem from fertilizer runoff. The cost to connect to city water and to seal off his well came to more than $2,600, but he added pressure of city water, he said, caused damage to his home.

“The pressure from city water ruined my pipes,” Capes said.

Marshall said none of the most recent 20 homes surveyed from samples taken by the Illinois Department of Health showed any VOCs in the area west of Johnston Avenue. Marshall said 22 total samples were tested and VOCs were found in four of them, but only two were found to be over the accepted limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He said the re-testing of wells occurred Aug. 4.

The WCHD issued a statement that read, “The home with the highest level of VOCs was resampled and the concentration found was 70 percent lower, indicating a possible decline in the VOCs in the area groundwater.”

Marshall said all tests were conducted at one EPA-certified lab.

“We took two samples (from the same well) two weeks apart,” Marshall said. HIPPA laws prohibit revealing which addresses were tested.

Marshall said the two solutions involved city water connection or the installation of a carbon filter in the home.

Because the area is outside city limits, citizens in that area who hook up to city water will pay double for their water.

No determination has been made about where the substances common in gasoline — benzene, toluene and xylene — came from.

“We don’t know the source,” Marshall said.

Illinois Department of Public Health official Mike Bacon said of the early findings: “We think it’s flowing north to northwest. We hope we can pin it down, but we don’t know for sure.”

Roger Hare, at 1316 N. Johnston, said he has been suffering from the effects of his well water for years.

“All you people here are going to be sick,” Hare warned the crowd.

Bacon said, “The illnesses may or may not be related to environmental pollution.” Bacon encouraged residents to get “age-appropriate screenings.” He added that “eating well and proper exercise will have more to do with better health than anything we’ve said here.”

Another resident noted during the question-and-answer period that “my water has been doing this for nine years and chlorine doesn’t work.” She said she lived on Parkside and added “my clothes smell” after doing her laundry.

County Board Member Angie Goral encouraged residents, particularly households with pregnant women, to get their water tested by bringing samples to the county twice a year for $29 each. She admitted after the formal presentation that those tests don’t include screenings for VOCs, only nitrite levels from fertilizer and pesticide levels, along with bacteria levels. VOC screening panels cost upward of $300 and don’t include all toxic substances that can be found in well water, such as lead.

From the Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2011, issue

The City of Rockford Human Services Department, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Energy Assistance, announces that seniors and people with disabilities can begin applying for winter heating assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) beginning Sept. 1.

LIHEAP is a state- and federally-funded energy assistance program for low-income families, in which heating bill payments are made on behalf of households.

A single-person household can qualify with a monthly income of up to $1,361; a two-person household up to $1,839; and a family of four can earn up to $2,794. Benefits are paid directly to utilities on behalf of eligible households. The exception is households whose heating costs are included in their rent.

For the first time, some LIHEAP clients will have the option of choosing between the traditional Direct Vendor Payment (DVP) plan or the new Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP). The PIPP is available to eligible LIHEAP clients who are customers of ComEd and Nicor Gas. Under PIPP, the eligible client will pay a percentage of their income, receive a monthly benefit towards their utility bill, and receive a reduction in overdue payments for every on-time payment they make by the bill due date. The traditional DVP plan is a one-time payment.

Clients must bring all required documentation when applying to assistance including:

• State photo ID, i.e., driver’s license or Illinois state ID

• Proof of gross income from all household members for the 30-day period prior to the application date

• A copy of current heat and electric bills issued within the last 30 days (if they pay for their energy directly)

• A copy of a rental agreement, lease or rent receipt (if they are renting)

• Proof of Social Security numbers for all household members

• Proof that their household received TANF or other benefits, such as Medical Eligibility or SNAP, if receiving assistance from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Households with children under the age of 5 and disconnected households can begin applying for assistance beginning Oct. 1. Individuals not eligible for priority enrollment can apply beginning Nov. 1. The list of sites participating in the October and November sign-ups will be released at a later date. Clients will be served on a first-come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted.

The sites listed below will be serving as intake sites for seniors and disabled, and will begin taking phone calls for appointments beginning Sept. 1. Please note that the City of Rockford Human Services Department will not be taking calls for appointments.

2011 LIHEAP sites for Seniors and Disabled

Lifescape Community Services, 705 Kilburn Ave., Rockford; (815) 963-1609. Disabled that are head of household and Seniors. English and Spanish available.

Northwestern Illinois Area Agency on Aging (NIAAA), 1111 S. Alpine Road, Suite 600, Rockford; (815) 226-4901. Seniors only. English and Spanish available.

Rep. Chuck Jefferson’s Office, 200 S. Wyman St., Rockford; (815) 987-7433. Seniors and Disabled. English only.

Rockton Township, 1315 N. Blackhawk Blvd., Rockton; (815) 389-0914, (815) 624-7788. Seniors and Disabled. English Only. Roscoe, Rockton, South Beloit residents only.

Boone County Council on Aging, 2141 Henry Luckow Lane, Belvidere; (815) 544-9893. Seniors only. English and Spanish available. Boone County residents only.

United Way of Boone County, 220 W. Locust St., Belvidere; (815) 544-3144. Disabled. English only. Boone County residents only.

ALERTA, 130 N. State St., Belvidere; (815) 547-3800. Disabled. English and Spanish available. Boone County residents only.

From the Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2011, issue

Thanks to Beverly DeMarco for clarifying the origin of the group. The Rock River Times regrets the error.

From the Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2011, issue

Gasoline pollution has been found in five wells in what may be an isolated problem in well water along Soper Avenue north of Auburn Street, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

Test results from 22 samples taken from 21 wells by the IDPH and the Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD) in the beginning of August around the area bordered by the Cottonwood Airport, Auburn Street and Alliance Avenue have found pollutants consistent with gasoline. Two tests were positive for the same substance found in late July.

The vast majority of homes in the small subdivision rely on well water rather than city water.

“We found that five of the 21 wells had high levels of benzene and toluene,” said Melaney Arnold, spokesman for the IDPH.

She said both are components of gasoline, and the high levels were found in a cluster of homes around where the original testing was done at 1225 Soper Ave. The other wells tested “did not have any levels of gasoline,” she said.

“We will continue to do monitoring and follow-up testing,” Arnold said. “If people come forward, we can do testing then. It doesn’t appear that it’s going outside this small area, and is pretty much included in one area. Further out, we did not have that detection.”

The state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on finding which business that used benzene and toluene is responsible for the leaking of gasoline into the well water supply. The source, or perhaps even sources, of the gasoline have yet to be determined, and there are a number of culprits still in play.

“There are a number of underground storage tanks in that area,” Maggie Carson, of the the Illinois EPA, said. “We will take a look at each of these sites and the groundwater flow information. Some are close to the surface, and some are deeper” gas storage sites.

There has been speculation that the nearby Amerock plant was responsible. Carson said: “We haven’t ruled anyone out. Back then, gasoline was used as a solvent.”

The testing may not be over for residents around the area because five of the 22 tests came back positive. How far the area reaches “would depend on what we find,” Carson said. “We have to look at the plume of contamination. If they find it’s gone that far, then they have to go farther.”

Going farther includes the geographical scope. Going farther may involve legal action, which Carson called “taking it to the next level.”

The ability to do so rests with scientific research to identify what kind of gasoline it is and where it originated.

“Speaking in hypotheticals, one option is to find the facility,” Carson said. “Then, if we can identify the responsible party, the state attorney general would get involved and take legal action on our behalf. Part of our job is to see if this is possible.”

If more tainted wells are found, the depth of the investigation would expand. But Carson doubts the scope will turn into another EPA Superfund site for Rockford because “Superfund sites tend to be the largest, most complex and heavily contaminated sites.”

The two agencies will work together to determine the scope and the party or parties responsible. Carson said tests showing the specific chemical makeup of the pollution can help in determining the source.

The EPA began a program to monitor underground storage tanks in 1989 called LUST (Leaking Underground Storage Tanks). The state database from registered underground tanks dates back to 1974. Unfortunately for the residents, there are storage tanks below ground that still contain gasoline and it’s possible a spill happened from a tank never registered.

“There were gas stations around there in the ’30s,” Carson said, “but most of their storage tanks were emptied and filled with gravel.”

A nearby Mobil station, now closed, had been cited in the past for leakage of 600 gallons of product in the 1980s.

“Until we complete the research, we really can’t be definite about it,” Carson said.

The decision to declare a house uninhabitable would come from health department officials, not the state EPA, Carson said.

For now, the wait continues.

“Some of the things we’ve done to our environment decades ago, we’re now paying the price,” Carson said.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

The Rock River Times, Illinois Press Association victorious in landmark Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against District 205

Staff Report

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Press Association (IPA) was declared victorious Aug. 18 in a Winnebago County court in a groundbreaking lawsuit against Rockford Public School District 205 and its former superintendent over violations and abuse of the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The lawsuit, filed in November 2010 by the IPA and The Rock River Times, was the first case filed under Illinois’ new FOIA, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2010. As a result of the lawsuit, the Winnebago County Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit imposed civil penalties against the school district in the amount of $2,500 for its repeated violations of FOIA involving one document.

Illinois’ current FOIA states a court can impose a civil penalty upon a public body that “willfully and intentionally” fails to comply with the act. This language was insisted upon by the IPA and the Attorney General’s office during the 2009 FOIA rewrite to ensure public bodies would properly obey the law. While most public bodies have abided by one of the most important laws in Illinois, some have continued to ignore FOIA and what is statutorily required under the law.

“Unfortunately, some public bodies, such as the Rockford School District, are still blatantly ignoring and violating FOIA, so the IPA saw no option other than to respond by filing suit,” said Dennis DeRossett, executive director of the IPA. “In this instance, the Rockford School District was, by far, one of the worst abusers of the new FOIA law the IPA had encountered.”

The lawsuit involved the failure of the school district to release a letter to The Rock River Times, which filed multiple FOIA requests over a two-month period. Despite the letter being deemed a public document by the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor, the school district refused to release the letter on three separate occasions, citing two different FOIA exemptions. The school district even went as far as labeling the decision of the Attorney General’s Office as “erroneous.” Soon after the lawsuit was filed last fall, the letter was released by the district.

The letter in question was written by former Auburn principal Patrick Hardy and contained unflattering details about former Rockford Superintendent Dr. LaVonne M. Sheffield in response to a letter written by Sheffield titled “Separation of Employment.” Hardy has since left the school district on his own accord and is employed by another school district. Meantime, Sheffield resigned April 12 as superintendent amid controversy. Her last day on the job was April 30.

Sheffield has since accepted a position as associate vice president for early college expansion at Boston education think tank Jobs for the Future (JFF).

In his ruling, Winnebago County Circuit Judge Eugene G. Doherty, said, “The record gives a clear impression that the District understood that it was wrong on all three claimed exemptions, but was looking for a way to save face rather than simply admitting it was wrong and disclosing the document.” He further states: “the entire course of events here strongly suggest that the District first decided that it would not release a document which it did not want to release, and only then did it begin looking for reasons to support a decision it had already made. The invocation of a new (and equally unfounded) basis for exemption after the first reasons had been proven incorrect is an indication of the District’s intransigence. Only when the requesting party filed suit was the District finally compelled to concede that its position was indefensible.”

In praising the ruling, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said: “This case demonstrates the critical importance of enforceable transparency laws. People have a fundamental right to know how their government conducts itself on their behalf.”

The IPA and The Rock River Times were represented by Don Craven of Springfield, Ill., legal counsel for the IPA.

Craven said: “This case was a poster child for the imposition of civil penalties. The district was delaying, playing games and exemption shopping. When pushed, they invented a conversation with PAC Cara Smith — a conversation she says never took place — and released the document at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve, citing, of course, their long-standing policy of open and transparent government. Perhaps writing this check for civil penalties will encourage the district to have a slightly more sincere policy in support of open and transparent government.”

The Rock River Times is a member of IPA, which represents more than 480 daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

In anticipation of the upcoming school year, the Rockford Police Department would like to remind citizens that cell phone usage is prohibited in school zones. This law is in place to help ensure the safety of the children and the school employees within these zones.

According to the Illinois Vehicle Code in 625 ILCS 5/12-610.1:

1. No cell phone use is permitted in a school speed zone.

2. A person under the age of 19 who holds an instruction permit or

3. A person who holds a graduated driver’s license may not use a cell phone while driving at any time other than during an emergency to call for assistance.

It is permissible for persons other than a person under the age of 19 who holds an instruction permit or a person who holds a graduated driver’s license to use a cell phone in voice-activated/speaker mode.

Officers of the Rockford Police Department will be working details in school zones to assure compliance.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. A walk to save lives, the Out of the Darkness Rockford Community Walk will be held Saturday, Sept. 10, at Anderson Japanese Gardens, 318 Spring Creek Road, Rockford. Check-in is at 10 a.m.; the walk will begin at 11 a.m.

You can walk to raise awareness, and help reduce the stigma of depression, bipolar disorder and other mood disorders, and suicide. Walk to honor a loved one, and to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Register online now at http://asfp.donordrive.com/event/rockford. There is no minimum fund-raising requirement, and no registration fee to participate in this event. A walk flier is available at http://www.afsp.org/files/Field_Staff/Rockford_Walk_Flier.pdf.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

Staff Report

L J Projects recently launched their new website at www.ljprojects.org. The company, with headquarters in Rockford, provides free removal of unwanted items, as well as clean-outs of residential and commercial properties and rural farms, lawn maintenance and handyman projects servicing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and central Texas.

The L J Projects website is designed to inform clients of the types of items that are removed by the company (anything containing any and all metals, plus wood, cardboard, furniture, clothing and more) and the all-out clean-up work provided.

“We are a recycling company whose mission is to keep as much as possible out of landfills,” said Leon Torres, founder/owner of L J Projects. “Having a website makes it easier for clients to contact us and is an environmentally-friendly way to promote our business.”

The new website features a link to follow L J Projects on Facebook, where you can read recycling industry and related news, view images of what the company is currently working on and learn about initiatives to make the community a better place.

The site also has a list of partners that support the work of L J Projects. The site can be visited at www.ljprojects.org.

The site is designed and maintained by Computer Business Services, Inc. (CBS), of Beloit, Wis.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

JANESVILLE, Wis. — In 1936, a group of Rock County farmers decided that if they wanted to get electricity anytime soon, they would have to do it themselves.

They believed that electricity was a necessity for progressive farming and ultimately improving the lives of rural folks. In the mid-1930s, there was a vast difference between the prosperity of city dwellers and rural folks, largely because of the availability of electricity. More than 90 percent of people living in cities had electricity, but only 10 percent of rural areas had power.

The farmers had requested power from the local utility company but were turned down because it wasn’t considered economically feasible. Undiscouraged, they turned their thinking to a cooperative program. When the federal Rural Electrification Administration was initiated by an act of Congress in 1936, the group was prepared to launch a program to give rural areas electricity.

April 22, 1936, the group founded the Rock County Electric Cooperative Association, now known as Rock Energy Cooperative. Not only did these highly-motivated individuals start a cooperative, they also worked out a power supply agreement, signed up members, borrowed money, hired employees, put poles in the ground and strung wire. They were successful in bringing the promise of a better life to the countryside.

During 2011, Rock Energy Cooperative is honoring these forward-thinking men as it celebrates 75 years of illuminating people’s lives. The original incorporators were George Ballmer, Ed Mahlum, Michael Weis, Emmett Yale, C.J. Damerow, James A. Conway, J.O. Woodman, H.S. Anderson, William Florin, Clarence Knutson, Adam Lunowa, Grant Rice, H.A. Haried and J.B. Dybevik.

“It’s astounding when you consider the changes that have occurred in the co-op’s history,” said Shane Larson, the co-op’s chief executive officer. “Rock County Electric Cooperative started with a couple hundred meters. We have 27,000 today. The number of employees grew from four to more than 50 today. We have changed our name, expanded our service territory to include urban areas as well as the rural countryside, and now also deliver natural gas to our Illinois members.”

Energy cooperatives have a long history of working together toward a common goal. In 1936, farm families banded together to electrify rural America, and that spirit of cooperation is stronger than ever today, Larson said.

“For 75 years, Rock Energy Cooperative and its members have chosen to unite as a collective body to energize our homes and our businesses,” he said. “The decades have demonstrated that no matter what the challenge, the cooperative has remained focused on its mission to deliver safe and reliable energy at a competitive price.”

Established in 1936, Rock Energy Cooperative is a not-for-profit utility distributing safe and reliable electricity and natural gas to more than 27,000 meters across its eight-county service in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. With headquarters in Janesville, Wis., the cooperative also has an office in South Beloit, Ill. For more information, visit www.rock.coop.

From the Aug. 24-30, 2011, issue

1225 Soper (left) and 1223 Soper, in the area of Rockford being tested for contaminated water. (Photo by Richard S. Gubbe)

• Winnebago County: Testing for contaminated water being treated like criminal investigation

By Richard S. Gubbe
Contributing Writer

Winnebago County officials and anxious residents are awaiting results taken from well water in an area surrounding the 1200 block of Soper Avenue in Rockford. Officials are hoping the 21 additional samples taken recently will help them determine the depth and origin of the groundwater pollution that was discovered at the end of July.

Residents in and around the affected area cling to the hope that they are not living above a toxic dump site.

“This is horrible,” said Manuel Lopez, 38, who owns the home at 1223 Soper Ave. A distinct odor of gasoline emanated from the kitchen sink Monday morning. Lopez said his wife drank tap water months ago, and got sick and was taken to the hospital for tests after experiencing vomiting and nausea, he said.

“We cannot use it anymore,” he said, adding that his family with three children must go out of the house to bathe and must drink bottled water inside.

Across the street at 1214 Soper, homeowner Sharon Rush said she switched to city water years ago after seeing orange-colored water coming out of her tap.

“Before we got city water, it smelled,” she said. Rush, who said she paid $4,800 to connect to city lines, said she plans legal action.

According to Winnebago County Health Department officials, between 180 and 200 homes are in the testing area for well contamination. Another 30 homes in that area are connected to city water lines and are not in play in their investigation, officials said. After two samples taken from wells in July came up positive for contamination, an additional 21 wells were tested, and three samples from each well were surveyed.

The goal of taking 21 additional samples is to identify how large an area is affected, by how many pollutants and by what strength. Gasoline, benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals were discovered from original testing done at two locations.

Larry Swacina, director of Environmental Health Services for the Winnebago County Health Department, said it is hoped the sampling from 21 additional wells will determine “the depth of wells and the groundwater flow to determine the size and source of the contamination.”

Swacina said direction of the flow will be key in determining the source. Gas stations have been located nearby, and the Amerock plant was operated only a few hundred yards away. The Mobil station formerly on the corner of Johnston Avenue and Auburn Street has been cited in the past for environmental abuse.

“That Mobil has a past record of leakage of 600 gallons of product,” Swacina said.

Because it is a known carcinogen, the use of benzene as a gasoline additive is limited, but it is an important industrial solvent and precursor to basic industrial chemicals including drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber and dyes.

Swacina said his department is treating the testing “like a criminal investigation. The profile is consistent with gasoline, but we won’t know until we get the results back,” Swacina added. “We notified a large area to be on the safe side.”

Testing was being handled through the Rockford Regional Office of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The Rockford office services nine northwest counties. Clayton Simonson, environmental health supervisor for the Rockford office, said results could be back soon. “Could be today,” he said Monday, when asked about the 21 samples.

The Winnebago County Health Department circulated informational fliers after the original two samples came back from the neighborhood bounded by Cottonwood Airport to the west, Alliance Avenue to the east, Auburn Street to the south, and to the end of the roads between Alliance Avenue and the Cottonwood Airport. Then, they held an informational meeting for residents the first week of August at Northwest Community Center.

Renter Nicole Clark, who lives next door to Lopez at 1225 Soper, was one of the homes in the latest set of samples. She said she signed a waiver to have samples taken. She also said she was told at the town meeting that her house was uninhabitable and that she should leave.

“We haven’t told anyone to relocate,” Swacina said.

Simonson added, “I don’t believe anyone has been told that.”

Because the county health department has limited funds, testing can’t be done at every home, Swacina said. He said the 21 samples were strategically spaced in the area to get a clear picture of the size and source.

Up a slight hill from 1223 and 1225 is homeowner Joyce Larkins at 1207 Soper, who said her water doesn’t smell, but the threat of contamination is still a concern. She said her water was tested two years ago when she moved in, and it passed. On the other side of Clark and Lopez to the north lies the home of Herbert Hyatte at 1233, who said his wife has smelled odors at times from the faucets. “But I’ve owned this house for 30 years, so I don’t worry about it,” he said.

For those residents who want their own results, independent testing can be done. American Pure Water on Forest Hills Road is one such business that sends its water testing samples to National Testing Laboratories. A complete panel runs around $300. Federal standards for water are provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency office and are posted online.

The regional office will report the results to local residents at another meeting, Simonson said. Any action taken against the alleged perpetrator would be handled at the state level, he added.

“We are here to protect the health and safety of the people,” Simonson said.

Finding the source may provide only consolation to nearby residents.

Nicole Clark said her husband started smelling gasoline from the faucet a week before the county came to test her water. She said her family, which includes four children ages 20 months to 17 years old, have been drinking bottled water since June.

“But we were still bathing in it,” she said. “It smells horrible.”

Clark has since left her home. She said her health started to deteriorate in the past year.

“I have been in and out of the hospital, and I’m a young, fit person and try to take care of myself,” Clark said. She said she has been having headaches and vomiting. Clark said she took her youngest to have blood tests, and those were negative. She plans to have tests by a medical specialist in Chicago who tests for long-term exposure to benzene. The acceptable limit by federal standards is 5 parts per billion for benzene.

“We tested 900 parts per billion,” Clark said of the original two samples taken in the neighborhood. Simonson said because of HIPAA privacy statutes, he can’t release results from individual homes.

The future for residents could involve being hooked up to city water lines.

“We would hope to get the source responsible to pay for the houses to be hooked up to city water,” Swacina said.

Clark said her Arlington Heights property owner and landlord won’t return her calls. She’s trying to retrieve her security deposit and August rent so she can use it to find another place to live.

“Right now, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water,” she said.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

The Native Americans performed a number of dances at the 16th Annual “Honor the Mounds” celebration last Saturday, Aug. 13, at Beattie Park. But one they definitely did not do was a Rain Dance. Mother Nature provided the rain twice — one shower in the morning and another late in the afternoon. The tents for the speakers, singers and drummers were set up, and the vendors’ booths were in place. The Grand Entry with parade of colors went off without a hitch.

In between dances, MC Leonard Malatare (Salish, Flathead) filled in with bits of Native American lore and humor. He explained the Lakota words kola (friend ) and Le-la-wash-te (very good). “You cannot lie in that language,” he explained, “because it reflects on what your people taught you.”

Native flutes — artistry in wood

Bill Bergman, one of the visitors that day, was playing a wooden Native flute. I asked him how he happened to learn to play the instrument. Giving credit to his wife as the expert, he said: “We got involved with some people in the Rockford area — Mac and Juanita [MacVenn, founders of the Native American Awareness Committee, organizers of the event]. My wife got into a drum … my wife started messing around with flutes. She said, ‘You want to buy a flute.’ I said, ‘I can’t play a flute.’ One day, we bought a flute and said, ‘This is ours.’ I started playing around with it, and I liked it. I didn’t think I sounded too good. But my wife, she can play it beautifully.”

He showed it to me up close. The lovely, smooth, wooden instrument was signed by the maker, “Thunder Bear – E-1786,” meaning it would play in the key of E. “Thunder Bear” is Randy Starnes.

Bill’s wife, Carol, said, “Last year, we were coming back from the Spirit Circle.” A man there thought her husband was of Chippewa ancestry, something he saw in the eyes.

“I do a lot of woodworking myself,” Bill Bergman added, “and the finish on here is like satin. I think I’ve got the ability to duplicate it.” He pointed out the nearly invisible seam in the wood, showing the high quality of workmanship.

Gifts for the children

Leonard Malatare said they would do a dance for Wakan Ya Zhaj, the “Holy Ones,” the children. Native American parents like to give gifts to their children. Since it would soon be time for “Back to School,” he invited the children in the audience to come up to the speakers’ tent and get a prize. Kids old enough to go to school were given free backpacks of school supplies, while younger ones got a stuffed toy animal.

Earlier, I had asked Mac “Spotted Horse” MacVenn how many times he had participated in this event over the years. He replied: “The Native American Awareness Committee was formed 17 years ago, with the first ‘Honor the Mounds’ gathering 16 years ago. The committee was formed in one of the gathering pits in North Towne Mall before the inner mall was shut down. I’ve been with it since the beginning.”

I then asked him, “How many tribes have participated in these events?”

Thinking back, he said: “Over the years, over 35 nations were represented. This year, we have our Firekeeper (Dennis Dillard, Cherokee, Lakota, Eastern Delaware); MC Leonard Malatare (Salish, Flathead); Blackfoot; Kickapoo; Mescalero Apache; Sauk/Fox; Lakota; Cherokee, as well as others with the crafters and vendors involved.”

For this event, Rudy Valajo (Kickapoo) was the head male Eagle dancer, and Chris Woodcock (Cherokee) was the head female dancer. Spirit of the Rainbow (Cherokee) singers and Bennah Un Deanah “Sound of the Wind” (Anasazi) provided accompaniment with vocals and drums.

Importance of spirituality

Joseph “Standing Bear” Schranz of Midwest SOARRING spoke about the need to go back to our spiritual roots. He explained that people have different ideas of what is sacred. “They go to different churches,” he said. “I believe the Creator gives us spirituality, and that will save us. There are a lot of good churches and a lot of bad churches. The Bible says the churches will suffer severely for not following the true teachings. What I’m talking about today is what’s happening to all our people. We hear about the government — the Democrats and Republicans. What is sacred and what is happening to our people…

“I am concerned about what the government is doing to our people and the struggle between technology and spirituality,” Shranz added. “Our young people are looking for technology to be their salvation — cell phones, iPads, etc. I believe in the end that will destroy what limited spirituality they have left. I am concerned about people our age — we have earned Social Security. Why aren’t people protesting what is going on with the government? You put money into your account, and you get your Social Security. Then, someone in Washington says they are going to penalize you for it. I believe we are in for a real bad time of it.

“The soldiers — these veterans who defended us didn’t do that to be a socialist country,” Shranz said. “We have to stand up as a people. I have been an activist for 41 years of my life. The three worst things are ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda.’ All of us have the power to write letters, make phone calls, and speak out. We all have the power to turn this country around. The manufacturing has been taken away…

“In the old days, the enemy was a long way away, but now with these missiles coming our way, we don’t have years to build up an infrastructure,” Shranz said. “We have to start protesting. I’m concerned for each and everyone of you and your children and grandchildren. What will they have? They will not have any Social Security, just tremendous debt. As parents, we need to safeguard them. I am always amazed that men go overseas and put on a uniform, but if they steal your money at home, nobody does anything,” Shranz said.

“I believe the people have the power. I don’t know what happened to us. We need to do something to stand up as a people and make a change happen now. These people promise budget cuts, but they keep spending and spending — our future, our Medicare, things we earned. One of the things that does concern us — everybody worries about survival, and the spiritual goes [away]…

“Our salvation is simple: prayer,” Shranz said. “Every day I give thanks. The way we are treating the earth — we need to take care of what we have left. With my foundation, the last 20 years, it has saved 1,900 acres, sacred sites, trees, water [areas]. In Western Springs, I got the people all riled up to buy a $12 million bond to save a valuable park. But what happened? All the park district thought was that they could use the money for something else. I heard just recently, we will get $3 million out of the $12 million. That’s pitiful … I urge you to stay strong on who you are and get more involved in your spiritual [life]. Push away that technology while you still can.

“When I was a kid, and we had a snowstorm, you went outside to see footprints in the snow, kids making a snow fort, things like that,” Shranz said. “Now you don’t see any footprints in the snow because the kids are inside with the TV and other electronics. The bigger picture is what we’re not seeing — how do we change that? We need to be determined to make a change. If we don’t make it, no one will, and in another 20 years the USA will be gone. I don’t want to see that happen. I cherish this land. Today, it is still worth something … I urge you to share. If you grow vegetables and can your food, do so now. Learn to save yourself before it is too late.”

As the storm front moved in again, a few drops of rain were beginning to fall. The colors were retired early, and a couple of intertribal dances closed the event for this year.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

Father and son join the parade of antique tractors at the Boone County Fair in Belvidere. The fair, Aug. 9-14, considers itself “A fair dedicated to families.” Featured performer was country music star and former "American Idol" contestant Kellie Pickler. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

The Ferris wheel (right photo) at the midway after dark. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Hatching baby chicks are a fascinating study for a young girl. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

A competitor drives her team of Haflinger horses in the team obstacle course competition. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

The Eighth Annual Pecatonica River Clean-Up in Freeport has been re-scheduled for Aug. 28 because of recent flooding. The event was originally scheduled for July 30-31. To register or for more information, call (815) 599-5690 or e-mail usyf1931@hotmail.com. Visit www.usyf.org for more details. (Photo provided)

Staff Report

The Eighth Annual Pecatonica River Clean-Up in Freeport has been re-scheduled for Aug. 28 because of recent flooding. The event was originally scheduled for July 30-31.

The clean-up, organized by the United Sportsmen’s Youth Foundation and Rock Hollow Conservation Club, is the largest conservation effort in northern Illinois.

Volunteers are needed to collect trash, not only from the river, but also the shoreline and the nearby prairie path. Service clubs and individuals are encouraged to assist in the clean-up. A cook-out for all volunteers will follow clean-up.

This year, more than 100 volunteers are expected to be out on the river removing several truckloads of debris, bottles, plastic and more from the Pecatonica River. The goal of the annual event is to teach children that their actions have a direct impact on the delicate environment.

The United Sportsmen’s Youth Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to purchase large tracts of habitat, provide and preserve multi-use habitat for children, teach children that personal involvement can positively impact wildlife and habitat, and work to unite sportsmen, agriculture and communities. Donations are accepted.

To register or for more information, call (815) 599-5690 or e-mail usyf1931@hotmail.com. Visit www.usyf.org for more details.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

PECATONICA, Ill. — The Illinois State Police, District 16, will conduct Alcohol Countermeasure Enforcement Act (ACE) patrols in Winnebago County during the Labor Day Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign, which runs from Aug. 19 through Sept. 5, according to Lt. Martin Zamudio.

The A.C.E. patrols allow the Illinois State Police to target an area with saturation patrols that focus on preventing, detecting, and taking enforcement action in response to violations associated with impaired driving and illegal transportation or consumption of alcohol and other drugs. A.C.E. patrols are designed to keep our roads safe by taking dangerous DUI offenders off the road.

The A.C.E. patrols are funded through a grant from the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.

Roadside safety checks

During the same time period, the Illinois State Police, District 16, will conduct Roadside Safety Checks. Officers working these details will be watching for drivers who are operating unsafe vehicles, driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license, transporting open alcoholic beverages, or driving under the influence. Safety checks are designed to keep our roads safe by taking dangerous DUI offenders off the road.

The Roadside Safety Check is funded through a grant from the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

Becca’s Closet will open Saturday, Aug. 27, for the homecoming season. Becca’s Closet, now located at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1829 N. Rockton Ave., Rockford, will be open from 9 a.m. to noon each Saturday through mid-October. Good Shepherd is three blocks north of Auburn Street, directly across from West Middle School.

The Rockford chapter of Becca’s Closet serves as a boutique to collect and distribute formalwear free of charge to hundreds of young women each year from Rockford and surrounding communities who would not otherwise be able to attend proms, homecomings, and other special events. The Rockford chapter has given away more than 320 dresses and accessories since March 2011. Rockford Area Lutheran Ministries, a partnership organization of area ELCA congregations, is responsible for oversight and operation of the chapter in cooperation with the Auburn High School Key Club.

Becca’s Closet is presently in short supply of party shoes, purses and jewelry. Dresses are always accepted; plus-size gowns and short dresses are especially appreciated.

Items can be donated at the following locations and times:

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1829 N. Rockton Ave., Rockford, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Thursday;

Grace Lutheran Church, 343 Grand Ave., Loves Park, 9 a.m-3 p.m., Monday-Friday;

Capron Lutheran Church, 155 S. Second St., Capron, 8 a.m.-noon, Monday, Thursday, Friday;

The Postal Shoppe, 1643 N. Alpine Road, Rockford, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday;

The Postal Shoppe, 2205 S. Perryville Road, Rockford, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday;

Machesney Park Village Hall, 300 Machesney Park Road, Machesney Park, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday;

United Way of Rock River Valley, 612 N. Main St., third floor, Rockford, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday;

Crusader Clinic Foundation Office, 1216 W. State St., Rockford, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday; and

Harlem Roscoe Fire Station, 10544 Main St., Roscoe, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday.

For more information about Becca’s Closet, to donate dresses and accessories to Becca’s Closet, or to make a private appointment, contact Rockford Area Lutheran Ministries at (815) 962-4279 or RALMmail@aol.com.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

The City of Rockford Human Services Department is seeking individuals interested in training for jobs in home weatherization and energy auditing.

Applications for the program are being taken in person at the City of Rockford Human Services Department, Community Services Division, 555 N. Court St., third floor, Aug. 15-31.

The program includes four to five weeks of classroom instruction. Participants will receive training in workplace readiness, math for the construction trades and building analyst certification, and will participate in field work training, working with course instructors and weatherization auditors for hands-on experience.

The program is open to all area residents, but women, minorities, displaced union workers and people living in the 61101, 61102 and 61104 zip codes are encouraged to apply. Individuals selected for the program will earn a stipend during the training. A high school diploma or GED, drug test and background check are required.

Supportive services, including child care and transportation vouchers, will be available to eligible participants.

The Rockford Human Services Department has received a $250,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the program. The purpose of the Urban Weatherization Initiative is to increase energy efficiency in the community and increase employment opportunities in the green jobs sector.

People successfully completing the training earn certifications allowing them to qualify for available jobs with contractors or start their own businesses.

For more information, contact Kim Thompson at the City of Rockford at (815) 962-5019.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

Rockford’s River Valley Community Church will offer Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU) 13-week DVD financial course beginning at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31.

FPU teaches families and individuals common-sense principles like how to make a plan with their money so they are able to free themselves of debt and build lasting wealth. FPU is available for churches, military, nonprofit agencies and businesses.

River Valley Community Church is at 5439 E. State St. Call Jo Fox at (815) 395-1555 for more details or to register. More about Ramsey is available at www.daveramsey.com.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

The Richard J. McGrath Endowment Fund was created in 2007 to provide small grants for local social organizations in the communities served by Heritage Credit Union. Last year, more than $7,000 was awarded to 16 deserving community groups. Recipients included food pantries, senior citizen organizations and community improvement groups.

Applications are accepted from July 1 to Aug. 31 each year. To be considered for an award in 2011, pick up an application at your local Heritage Credit Union branch or download one at www.heritagecu.org/our-story.

From the Aug. 17-23, 2011, issue

As the full moon begins to rise upon the Rockford area, an annual gathering of visitors will be preparing to welcome the community to the 16th Annual “Honor the Mounds” Gathering, Saturday, Aug. 13,  in Beattie Park.

At a time when the economy is uncertain, and some usually dependable structures are in flux, there are still a few reminders that the earth has undergone many changes, yet still endures. The lessons of the past have been handed down to us to learn from and carry into the future. That is the message of the annual gathering at Beattie.

Mac “Spotted Horse” MacVenn explained it this way: “It is a gathering — not a pow-wow. The difference between them is, a pow-wow is a social event with vendors and dancers. A gathering such as ours is meant to be more spiritual and educational, as well as social. … There will be approximately 10 vendors offering Native American and handmade products, and two drums — ‘The Sound of the Wind’ (Anasazi) and ‘Spirit of the Rainbow’ (Cherokee) singers, along with the educational aspect.”

He noted that the three speakers will cover aspects of Native American spiritual beliefs, current Native American topics within the northern Illinois area and about the mounds themselves, not only about Beattie specifically, but other endeavors currently being worked on throughout the Rock River drainage system, with cooperation of the Rock River Trail project.

“There will also be demonstrators, some of whom will be showing flintknapping, Woodlands and Plains style lodges and living, shawl making, drum making, Native flutes, as well as other individual crafts and projects. All of these are family endeavors,” added MacVenn.

“Finally,” he said, “there will also be informational booths for the Native American Awareness Committee of Rockford, Midwest SOARRING, as well as potentially others. It is felt by the committee that this will be a good social experience as well as a good learning time. Native American foods such as fry bread and Indian tacos will be available for purchase.”

Oldest historical site and its significance

The area of Beattie Park was the homestead and land of the Beattie family from 1845 through 1921. It was used as their family home and as a site for Native American peoples to come and practice their rituals and ceremonial rites in the area between the current walk path across the park and the Rock River. The land was left in a natural state, not developed as so many other areas along the river were during that time period.

When the Beattie sisters died in 1921, the land was generously donated to the Rockford Park District with the stipulation that the mounds and trees be preserved and the land be kept a place of peace and solitude for relaxation, contemplation and meditation. The Beattie family set an example for stewardship of the land, honoring and respecting the Native American culture. At that time, the estimated value of the land was about $60,000.

Archaeologists believe the mounds were constructed between 600-800 A.D. (about 1,400-1,700 years ago). The mounds display several unique qualities, having been used for thousands of years, and to this day, they still honor harmony and balance between Mother Earth and nature.

Three particular types of mounds were constructed by the Native peoples of the Woodland Culture: conical or round, linear (long and straight) and effigy mounds (in the form of an animal). These types of Woodland Culture mound are found in Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, eastern Iowa, Michigan and the top two tiers of counties in Illinois.

Schedule for the day

While some of the participants vary from year to year, the order of events is consistent. Opening ceremonies will be held at 9:30 a.m., beginning with the Pipe Ceremony, presided over by Terry “Standing Buffalo” Reynolds (Lakota).  Dennis “White Bear” Dillard (Cherokee, Lakota, Eastern Delaware) will be in charge of lighting the Sacred Fire, assisted by Doug “Little Flaming Owl” Schandelmeier.

At 10 a.m., Mac “Spotted Horse” MacVenn (Iroquois, Eastern Delaware) will give the introduction, and Lakota Elder Terry “Standing Buffalo” Reynolds will offer the opening prayer. At 10:30 a.m., Dennis Dillard will speak about the teachings of Miracle, the white buffalo, and their significance to today’s society.

At 11 a.m., visitors can see the Grand Entry and Entry of the Colors, followed by the Veterans Dance and intertribal dances, in which the public may participate.

At noon, Joe “Standing Bear” Schranz of Midwest SOARRING Foundation will speak about current Native American topics. Lunch break will be at 12:30 p.m., along with a demonstration by the Blue Heron Singers of the Earth Keepers with drumming and songs. Another Grand Entry will take place at 1 p.m., followed by intertribal dancing and a children’s giveaway.

At 2:30 p.m., Frank Schier, founder and chairman of the Rock River Trail and editor and publisher of The Rock River Times, will speak about the identification and protection of Native American mounds, sacred sites and village sites along the Rock River flowage on both Illinois and Wisconsin. He has also been instrumental in the founding of the Rock River Trail project and promoting tourism along the river.

The day will conclude with intertribal dancing and Retirement of the Colors. Everyone is invited to come out to this family-friendly event, enjoy nature, and learn about the history of the area.

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

Switch engine of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, parked on South Main Street tracks. (Photo by Brian Landis)

By Susan Johnson
Copy Editor

A historic train passed through Rockford Tuesday, July 19, as the Nebraska Zephyr continued its journey from the Illinois Railway Museum in Union to the Quad Cities for Train Festival 2011. Though not well publicized, the event drew a number of Rockfordians who came out to see the train. Among them was Brian Landis, co-author of Rockford Area Railroads, who  took some photos of  the train and shared some information with us.

This unique passenger train rumbled its way west on the Union Pacific line, through Union, Marengo, Garden Prairie, Belvidere, Cherry Valley and Rockford, where it crossed Seventh Street. Its destination was Schweibert Riverfront Park in Rock Island, joining other steam and diesel locomotives on display at the Train Festival July 21-24.

The train was known as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad’s Nebraska Zephyr. It was built in 1942 in LaGrange, Ill., in the Electro-Motive Division and labeled EMD #9911-A. The cars it pulled were older than the locomotive; built in 1936, they were usually joined to a Zephyr that ran between Chicago and Minneapolis, called the Twin Cities Zephyr.

Michael Schafer, main author of Rockford Area Railroads, explained that this fascinating piece of mobile machinery was actually three trains linked together.

Behind the first locomotive, the #9911-A, was a Chicago Northwestern #411 F7A diesel locomotive, a yellow engine that pulled a commuter train. It was built in 1949 and had the number EMD #8569. Third in line was the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy switch engine #9255, which reversed the train on the way from Rockford to Davis Junction because the track arrangement in Rockford made it necessary. From Davis Junction, the train would then head to Savanna. Landis noted it was late arriving in Rockford because it was detained in Belvidere by a special presentation from the mayor.

Zephyr pulling Chicago Northwestern No. 411 diesel locomotive, crossing Winnebago Street, heading west. (Photo by Brian Landis)

Schafer explained how the switch engine was detached from the first train, then was coupled onto the end of the Zephyr #9255. “They needed a locomotive to pull it backward down to Davis Junction. It had to be pulled down [because] it couldn’t safely be backed all the way,” he said.

Some of the Zephyrs that traversed the country were the California, the Denver, the Texas and Twin Cities zephyrs. There was even a Mark Twain Zephyr. The Nebraska Zephyr, like other Zephyrs constructed by the company, had five compartments. “There was a power baggage car, two coaches, a dining car and a parlor observation car,” said Schafer. The Nebraska Zephyr was the train used in the filming of A League of Their Own, the story of the Rockford Peaches, filmed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill.

Train sets — how they functioned

“In 1947, when they built the new dome cars for the Twin Cities Zephyrs, they took the original 1936 Zephyr and made it into the Nebraska Zephyr,” Schafer recalled. “All they did was change the name on the side of the car. It ran between Chicago and Lincoln, Neb., from 1947 until about 1968. There were actually two sets. The complete set of cars for the Nebraska Zephyr is the power baggage car (where the locomotive is, with a generator), and a passenger car. There were two of these trains built.

“The train set [is linked] to all the cars attached to the train. You can disconnect cars and attach them to different cars. With the Nebraska Zephyr, it had a power baggage lounge car. In front of that car is a generator separated from the passenger section. It supplies electricity for the entire train once the cars are all connected,” said Schafer. “There is a section for the passengers’ baggage. The third part of the car is the lounge, where passengers can eat and drink. The second car is a coach, and the third car is a coach. The fourth car has a diner, and the fifth car is a parlor observation car, with individual swivel seating. There were two of these trains built in 1936. The other train was sold to Saudi Arabia about 1968 or ’69.

“One of these trains had the cars named after Greek goddesses, and the other, they were named after Greek gods. The Nebraska Zephyr is the goddess train. When they ran in Nebraska, they had to have both train sets. You had to have a train leaving Chicago for Lincoln in the morning, and also in the morning, one had to leave Lincoln for Chicago. They met each other halfway and passed en route. That was the only way you could provide daily service, by having train service on both tracks.

“That 9911 locomotive was built in 1942, but that was built to run a train called the Texas Zephyr between Denver and Dallas. That locomotive almost never was running on the Nebraska Zephyr, back in those days. It didn’t run on the Nebraska Zephyr until the Illinois Railway Museum got the 9911 and the Nebraska train set. The two had almost never run together.”

The train passed through Rockford again, coming back, Tuesday, July 26.

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

The Third Annual Pencils in the Park will distribute 5,000 backpacks filled with school supplies from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13, at Davis Park, 320 S. Wyman, Rockford.

Families and children are encouraged to attend the event for the distribution of backpacks, as well as for the opportunity to enjoy the festival-type day with activities including ice skating and a spelling bee. A variety of contests and games will take place with winners receiving prizes.

Free haircuts, food, nail painting, local college representatives, numerous community resource booths, and entertainment will also be available.

Rockford Life Center, in collaboration with Rockford Ald. Ann Thompson-Kelly (D-7), the City of Rockford, Wal-Mart, RAVE, Ellis Heights Weed & Seed, Neighborhood Network, Comcast, Rockford Park District and the Diamond Cut Rider organization are the organizers of the event. Previously, the event was held at Fairgrounds Park.

Angela Harris, director of Business Development for Life Center, explained: “Life Center began collecting backpacks and school supplies through the well-known program ‘Tools for School’ seven years ago. The program has now grown to a massive community-driven project, with a mission to ‘equip our kids for success.’

“The staggering statistic of 78 percent of students registered in Rockford’s District 205 that receive free and/or reduced lunches is the motivation behind this impactful event,” Harris added. “Providing students with the tools necessary for learning fundamentally strengthens their path toward success and ultimately strengthens the Rockford community.”

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

Festa Italiana, Rockford’s second-largest festival, offered food, fun, live music and games on the grounds of Boylan Catholic High School Friday-Sunday, Aug. 5-7. Despite having to dodge a few raindrops, festival-goers still enjoyed a full weekend of entertainment. Festa Italiana is a subcommittee of the Greater Rockford Italian American Association (GRIAA) and is the largest contributor to GRIAA’s scholarship fund. GRIAA’s scholarship fund helps Italian descendants with tuition in parochial schools. To date, GRIAA has awarded approximately half-a-million dollars in scholarships. Visit http://griaa.com for details. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Fun at Festa Italiana. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Fun at Festa Italiana. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

Fun at Festa Italiana. (Photo by Jon McGinty)

\From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

The Friends of Rockford Public Library (RPL) will host a Summer Sidewalk Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13, in front of the Main Library at 215 N. Wyman St. Most titles, including children’s books, fiction, non-fiction and paperbacks, will be available for just 10 cents each. A special collection of children’s books will also be available.

“We have an overstock of wonderful books, and we thought it would be fun to host a sidewalk sale before school starts,” said Jan Cooper, Book Shop manager for the Friends of RPL. “Our volunteers love these events because books find new homes, and we raise needed funds for the library at the same time.”

All proceeds from the sale benefit the Friends of Rockford Public Library. The group grants thousands of dollars annually to the library to support programs and services.

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

LEGAL NOTICE

You are hereby notified that the Zoning Board of Appeals of Winnebago County, Illinois will hold a public hearing on Monday, August 15, 2011, at 4:30 P.M. in the auditorium of Veterans Memorial Hall, 211 N. Main St., Rockford, IL and will consider the following:

GAMESA ENERGY USA, LLC, REPRESENTED BY RYAN AMMERMANN, PROJECT MANAGER, AND STEVEN COX, ATTORNEY, IS PROPOSING (AS INITIATED BY THE WINNEBAGO COUNTY BOARD VIA RESOLUTION 2011 CR 78) A TEXT AMENDMENT TO THE WINNEBAGO COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE PURPOSE OF SITING AND REGULATING COMMERCIAL WIND POWER GENERATING FACILITIES PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 90, SECTION 90-41, OF THE WINNEBAGO COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES. The proposed amendment, in general, is to establish specific criteria for permitting/allowing (in the AG, Agricultural Priority District and the AG1, Agricultural District), constructing, maintaining, and decommissioning of commercial Wind Power Generating Facilities. For the exact wording of the proposed text amendment, a copy of such is available for public review at the Winnebago County Regional Planning and Economic Development Department, division of Planning and Zoning, 404 Elm Street, Suite 403, Rockford, IL 61101, during regular business hours. A copy of same will also be available at the public hearing.

All those interested in said petition may attend, be heard and submit evidence for the record at the above mentioned public hearing; after the close of the public hearing, there will be no other opportunity to do said. A qualified person with a disability, who needs an interpreter or other special accommodations in order to attend or participate in a public meeting, should contact Margie M. Mullins, County Clerk, by telephone: 815/319-4250 no less than three (3) business days prior to the meeting, or by mail at, Winnebago County Administration Building, c/o Margie M. Mullins, County Clerk/Secretary, 404 Elm Street, Room 104, Rockford, IL 61101.

Brian Erickson, Chairman
Winnebago County Zoning Board of Appeals

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the public is invited to take the free (self-guided) Veggie Tour of several of the Planting the Seeds of Success Community Gardens. Visitors can see the program in action and speak with the gardeners.

Forty-three gardens received Community Services Block Grant funds through the City of Rockford Human Services Department in 2011. The community vegetable gardens are quite varied in purpose and growing methods. They have been created in such diverse locations as neighborhood plots, elementary schools, a senior facility, land donated by faith-based organizations, and residential facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Sites on the Veggie Tour: More information about the Community Gardens open for viewing Aug. 13 and maps will be found on the website www.rockfordneighborhoodnetwork.org or by contacting the Neighborhood Network office. The Veggie Tour includes:

1. Churchill’s Grove/Lawn Place Garden, lot at 995 N. Main St., Rockford

2. Ellis Heights United Neighborhood Center, 1810 W. State St., Rockford

3. Garden of Glory, lot at 1725 N. Winnebago St., Rockford

4. Gentle Shepherd, 5120 Rotary Road, Cherry Valley

5. Jeremiah’s Garden, southeast corner of Park Avenue and North Court Street, Rockford

6. Mosaic — specific location to be determined

7. Northeast Christian Church, 5651 E. Riverside Blvd., Rockford

8. ORCHID, lot at 723/727 S. Third St., Rockford

Why are these community gardens important?

The Planting the Seeds of Success Community Gardens serve the community in many ways, such as:

• Increasing production and consumption of inexpensive, locally-grown, nutritious food, especially for low-income residents and in food desserts. Nutrition is so important, but especially in raising healthy children. Too many families in the Rockford area can’t afford or don’t have access to fresh vegetables. Local gardens and donations are helping to change that.

• Donating food to those in need. All gardens are sharing. Some gardens donate ALL of their produce to area pantries, often through Plant A Row for the Hungry, while others elect to provide a portion to pantries and the rest to community members. Regardless of the actual process, thousands of pounds of produce are being shared.

• Learning life skills. A green thumb was not necessary to start with; people are learning the sustainable skills of growing food, with training and assistance as needed. Some are also selling produce to increase sustainability of the program and earn extra money.

• Promoting healthier lifestyles. Gardening can be hard, physical work, but children and adults alike see the benefits when the vegetables are ready to pick. People who have never eaten vegetables like green beans, broccoli or okra are willing to try what they themselves have worked so hard to grow. Eating healthy and exercising become healthy habits.

• Breaking down barriers while creating friends, neighbors and leaders. One of the best ways to get to know someone is to work next to them, overcome obstacles, achieve success — and share different food. Those skills and friendships enable and empower people to tackle other projects, and grassroots change continues.

• Removing blight, creating beauty and caring for our environment. Volunteers have turned often neglected or underused property into carefully tended community vegetable gardens. Many are also learning how to use less water and fewer chemicals.

Program operation

The program continues its uniquely collaborative methods.

• City of Rockford Human Services Department provides funding and fiscal management and assists in program management.

• Neighborhood Network provides program coordination, communication and assists in program management.

• University of Illinois Extension-Winnebago and volunteer Master Gardeners assist as educational advisers, and offer both formal and non-formal educational opportunities, trainings and technical assistance.

• Volunteer Site Leaders provide garden coordination, monitoring and organization.

• Volunteers garden specific locations.

Cyndie Hall, director of Neighborhood Network, states that “the Veggie Tour will give people the opportunity to visit some very interesting gardens and celebrate their success. Neighborhood Network seeks to provide technical assistance, resources and training to assist neighborhoods and improve communities, and the Planting the Seeds of Success Community Gardens project fits right in with our mission.”

The City of Rockford Human Services Department has been a key partner in the project by providing funding and grant management. “We are excited to celebrate the success of these gardens in addressing nutrition opportunities and encouraging community participation,” said Jennifer Jaeger, Community Services director for City of Rockford Human Services. She encourages people to come out and see the gardens Aug. 13.

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011, issue

The Rock River Times regrets the error.

From the Aug. 10-16, 2011

Rockford’s Kishwaukee Corridor Weed and Seed will offer two days of free training by a Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) team from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 10-11.

The training sessions will be at Benson Stone Company, 1100 11th St., Rockford. The sessions are free to participants, and include breakfast and lunch.

Register by calling Dana Hoefle, Kishwaukee Corridor Weed and Seed program coordinator, at (815) 703-8976 or e-mailing dhoefle@wchd.org.

At the end of the training, the community will have a customized strategic plan of action to deal with the key issues identified by participants.

An innovative way to make these large-scale community behavior shifts is to employ adjudication and law enforcement strategies in strict, strategic and creative ways. One strategy communities have adopted is to have citizens and neighbors use civil law procedures as nuisance abatement strategies.

By using civil law policies, citizens, business owners and neighborhood groups can file civil law complaints in small claims court to address nuisances not covered by criminal laws. These strategies help citizens feel empowered to make change in their communities without relying solely on law enforcement and criminal proceedings.

This unique training opportunity will be led by Michael Sparks, a skilled CADCA trainer who has helped communities across the country better understand and employ these types of strategies. Sparks will be joined by Tony Pearsall and Bob Sampayan, two law enforcement colleagues who have been instrumental in using civil law procedures as nuisance abatement strategies in Vallejo, Calif.

These trainers come from other communities that also employ the Weed and Seed strategy, so they understand many of the unique issues in Rockford around the Kishwaukee Corridor. All community members are welcome to attend.

CADCA is the national membership organization representing more than 5,000 coalitions and their affiliates working to make America’s communities safe, healthy and drug-free. CADCA’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of community coalitions by providing technical assistance and training, public policy and advocacy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences, and special events. Visit www.cadca.org.

From the Aug. 3-9, 2011, issue

First Northern Credit Union and Lou Bachrodt Auto Mall are holding an event at Lou Bachrodt Auto Mall, 7070 Cherryvale North Blvd. in Rockford to support troops in remembrance of 9/11.

The public is being asked to bring a decorated hand to Lou Bachrodt Auto Mall between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 6, along with a $1 donation. Donations are going to benefit Operation Homefront Illinois.

Operation Homefront Illinois’ mission is to provide emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.

“We strongly believe in Operation Homefront’s mission and are happy to help in any way we can,” says Jon Pick, district manager of Financial Sales/Service for First Northern Credit Union. “Having this event is a fun way to help the community get involved and also show that even though we’re almost at the 10-year mark, we still remember.”

You can download hand prints from www.97zokonline.com, www.Q98.5online.com, www.967theeagle.net or www.1440wrok.com. They will also be available the day of the event.

Two steel beams from the World Trade Center will be on display. The beams will be used for the Winnebago County 9/11 Emergency Responders Memorial that is planned to be built in Rockford.

Make donations at the Auto Mall or online at www.winnebago911memorial.org.

From the Aug. 3-9, 2011, issue

Rockford’s Midway Village Museum, 6799 Guilford Road, celebrated Heritage Garden Days July 30-31. Pictured above, Helena Francis serves tea during the tea tasting at Heritage Garden Days. The event profiled the museum’s heritage gardens and natural areas while in full bloom. Activities were led by University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners, Midway Village Museum education staff, and other area garden and prairie experts. Other activities included herbal tea tasting, Victorian crafts and demonstrations from the garden, garden tours and prairie walks, birding tours, Grandma’s Rhubarb Wine, heirloom plant sale and children’s activities. (Photo by P.J. Francis)

Photo by P.J. Francis

Photo by P.J. Francis

Photo by P.J. Francis

Photo by P.J. Francis

From the Aug. 3-9, 2011, issue

Peyton Smith, Ph.D. student in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present underground ecology, pertaining to the research of former faculty member Dr. Teri Balser. His program will be given from 7-9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18, at Burpee Museum of Natural History, 737 N. Main St., Rockford.

Balser’s dissertation assessed the importance of microbial community composition for ecosystem functioning and found that “when we disturb the soil or change the environment, soil microbes responsible for processes will be affected, and the composition of the microbial community will shift as organisms better suited to the new environmental conditions grow and compete.”

We know the characteristics and needs of the trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses we have planted in our landscapes, but do we also know the nature of the soil in which they grow? The composition and character of our soil influences the growth of plants within it. It also affects how plant life responds to global changes. As we strive to include more native plantings in our yards and communities, we are disturbing the soil and changing our community.

Join Burpee to learn the effects these changes can have on the ecology of our own communities and learn to “love the dirt,” too.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lenae Weichel at (815) 282-5482 or lenae@weichel.org.

From the Aug. 3-9, 2011, issue

Staff Report

Officials from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) have joined tourism industry leaders to highlight the gains made by Illinois tourism over the last year.

Illinois’ tourism industry generated $29.3 billion in revenue in 2010, an increase of more than $2.2 billion, as visitor spending continued to provide a strong economic impact to the state, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“In spite of national economic challenges, the state of Illinois continues to draw visitors both domestically and internationally,” said DCEO Director Warren Ribley. “Both economic impact of tourism and visitor volume increased for our state, while the travel industry created hundreds of thousands of jobs for the hard-working people of Illinois. Tourism continues to play a critical role in our state’s economic recovery, and we’re committed to doing all we can to keep Illinois’ visitor industry strong.”

According to the U.S. Travel Association, domestic travel spending nationwide increased to $27.2 billion, up 8.4 percent from 2009.

Spending on international travel rose to more than $2 billion, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009. That, local travel professionals say, has been a welcomed luxury given the state of the national economy.

“People are traveling and seeing the world,” John Sturm, president of Lindstrom Travel, said. “They had to give it up a couple of years ago; but we have seen an increase.”

In Illinois, the economic impact of tourism has grown by more than $3 billion during the past five years. Additionally, the travel industry generated 287,500 jobs in Illinois in 2010, directly and indirectly supporting one in 10 jobs in the state. On average, visitors spend nearly $80 million with Illinois businesses every day.

State and local tax revenues from tourism totaled more than $2 billion in 2010, an increase of $93.5 million. Illinois saw a 5 percent increase in state taxes and a 4.4 percent increase in local tax revenues. The total tourism tax revenue (federal, state and local) saves the average Illinois household more than $1,000 in taxes each year. Illinois collected $184.5 million in hotel/motel taxes in 2010, an increase of 8.12 percent from 2009.

Illinois hosted nearly 84.7 million visitors in 2010, according to D.K. Shifflet & Associates. This is up 5 percent from 2009. Both business and leisure travel saw increases in visitor volume, with leisure travel up 6 percent and business travel up 2.5 percent.

Overnight leisure travel to the state was up 13.8 percent, increasing market share by 11 percent in this category and ranking Illinois 10th in the U.S. Illinois maintained its ranking as the seventh-most popular state for overseas visitors to the U.S. in 2010, hosting 1,186,000 overseas visitors, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism Industries.

Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, said: “Illinois tourism continues to be a significant component of the state’s economy. As we continue to develop new marketing efforts and other ways to invest in the industry, we maintain jobs and economic stability across the state.”

In Rockford, a key attraction continues to be the Rock River and the recreational opportunities it offers residents of Winnebago County and visitors from other regions.

Rich Barton, manager of Paddle and Trail, said: “We are seeing a lot of calls from the suburbs, and they are generating income that we would not otherwise have. In fact, at the rental shop at Sinnissippi (Park) last week, we had people from Downers Grove who were in Rockford for something else, and they decided to stay a few more hours to paddle our kayaks.”

Officials from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Tourism (DCEO/IOT), also highlighted the results of 2010-2011 programs, in addition to highlighting the significant economic and social impact of Illinois’ travel and tourism industry, and presented plans and insight on catering to travelers with value-add packages, promotions and partnerships.

Highlights include the following:

• 2010-2011 initiatives: IOT highlighted some of the office’s milestone marketing programs from the past year including the Magnificent Getaways Giveaway in partnership with Midwest Living, a contest where consumers can win one of three once-in-a-lifetime getaways; and a new mobile application that acts as a personal trip planner and tour guide for visitors to Illinois, launching this summer.

• Advertising: IOT presented highlights from their latest campaign, There is a Place, which launched in spring 2011. The campaign integrates a cross-medium strategy with TV, radio, web and social media elements, all actively engaging prospective travelers by showcasing the unique combination of attractions offered throughout the state that can’t be experienced anywhere else in the Midwest.

Additionally, the office’s website, Enjoyillinois.com, was updated to include 14 new getaways; Kidventures “The Littles” tool, which provides suggestions for kid-friendly attractions based on a child’s interest; and a comprehensive calendar of events that can be accessed as a PDF or downloaded to a smart phone.

The Illinois Office of Tourism offers additional information about one-of-a-kind attractions, events statewide and suggested getaways on the office’s website, Enjoyillinois.com.

From the July 6-12, 2011, issue