EPA Amends Asbestos Cleanup Plan for Former Johns-Manville Superfund Site in Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Waukegan
CHICAGO (December 19, 2025) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its asbestos cleanup plan for a portion of the Johns-Manville Superfund site located within the Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Waukegan, Illinois. The amended plan will now require asbestos to be removed using hand tools instead of other common methods that could destroy the existing ecosystem.
The original plan called for certain contaminated areas in the Superfund site to be covered in two feet of compacted clean soil. However, a one-acre portion of the site—officially known as operable unit 6—is located inside a dedicated nature preserve and required additional legal and technical considerations.
After a thorough review, EPA determined the proposed soil cap in the original plan would destroy existing vegetation by burying plants and permanently altering the landscape. Excavation, another common asbestos removal method, would also damage the extensive root structures which allow perennial plants to survive in the nature preserve’s unique dune and swale ecosystem.
The amended plan will instead use licensed asbestos workers to periodically inspect the area and remove asbestos-containing material using hand tools. EPA will schedule inspection and cleanup activities according to controlled burns and wildfires. EPA will evaluate the effectiveness and necessity of cleanup activities as part of the five-year review process. The amended plan also updates the timing and extent of air monitoring and restricts access to the site.
The amended plan was developed with public input and has the concurrence of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
More information about the Johns-Manville Superfund site and the amended plan is available at EPA's Johns-Manville website.
Background
EPA added operable unit 6 to the Superfund site after the original Johns-Manville cleanup plan was published in 1987. This portion is the last section of the site with cleanup actions remaining.
The Johns-Manville facility manufactured building supplies from 1928 through 1998, using asbestos until 1985. The company’s 350-acre plant, which housed waste treatment and disposal areas, was demolished in 2001. In 1983, EPA added the site to Superfund’s National Priority List due to extensive asbestos, chromium, lead, thiram, and xylene contamination. After years of cleanup, EPA testing determined that additional asbestos cleanup is necessary to protect human health and the environment.
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