EPA Reports on Asbestos Monitoring at Illinois Beach State Park

In March 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report on the status of asbestos monitoring at the Illinois Beach State Park, located on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Lake County, Illinois. Exposure to asbestos is known to cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis.

Periodic monitoring of the park has been conducted since 1997, when roofing, pipe and siding materials were found along the beach. Testing of the debris confirmed the presence of asbestos.

While an investigation was conducted to determine the source of the materials, the final source has still not confirmed. Potential sources include beach front homes that once stood on the park land; waste materials from a former Johns Manville site in the area; asbestos contaminated “nourishment sand” added to the park shoreline to compensate for erosion, or debris from a rifle range built in the 1950s for the Pan American games, in which Johns Manville factory waste was used to build a large berm.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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