Mallard North Landfill is and unpermitted landfill that was operated by E&E Waste Hauling and is located on DuPage Forest property in the Village of Hanover Park. The landfill was closed in the 1970's and a soil cover was placed over the landfill. The landfill has shallow and deep passive vents that vent methane to the atmosphere and some of the leachate is collected from a sump on the South East Corner of the site on a periodic basis. The East Branch of the DuPage River runs along the boundary of the landfill and the River was channelized and lined with clay when the landfill was constructed. The West Branch of the DuPage River orininal channel and location was through the middle of the Mallard North Landfill.
High methane levels were detected at ML-6 during the Mallard Lake Nature and Extent investigation. USEPA had DuPage Forest District and BFI and there contractor AECOM install additional probes in the ML-6 area and near GreenBrook School in the Fall of 2008 and Spring of 2009. Methane gas was detected in a probe on the South West corner of GreenBrook School. No landfill gas or methane has been detected inside the school or in sub-slab ports installed to sample gas beneath the concrete slab. 2 Explosive Gas detectors were installed in the Green Brook School. A large diameter well LDE-13 was installed along the Mallard Lake walking trail and a combustion engine with a catylic converter hooked to well to remove the landfill gas and burn it off. Dewatering of the well is taking place by manual removal of water. The engine has LP gas as a make up gas to keep the engine running when gas levels decrease.
During the month of May 2009, US EPA and IEPA observed leachate seeps releasing from the South And East perimeters of the landfill into the East Branch of the DuPage River. USEPA requested DuPage Forest District to take immediate action to bring the levels of leachate down to a level to mitigate the seeps and stop the release. The Leachate sump and seeps have been sampled and contains levels of ammonia that would be deterimental to aquatic life. Further samples were collected of the leachate and seeps and will be analyzed for VOC and SVOC's.
US EPA has received and approved of the North Mallard Investigation Plan submitted by the DuPage Forest Districts contractor RMT. The investigation will begin on May 20, 2009 and will involve the installation of gas probes along the perimeters of the landfill and a feasibility study to evaluate the active collection of landfill gas. US EPA has requested that the DuPage Forest District evaluate interim measures and install them immediately to control the release of landfill gas from the Mallard North Landfill. US EPA has requested that DuPage Forest District evaluate an active collection system that generates electricity that could put back to the grid or over to the school. US EPA has requested DuPage Forest to immediately control the leachate seeps along the South and East perimeters by installing permananent wells with submersible pumps that keep elevations of leachate below the observed leachate seeps. Sampling has been conducted of the leachate, leachate seeps and samples have been requeste of water and sediment in the West Branch of the DuPage River.
