Beachgoers along Lake Michigan may need to suit-up to prevent dangerous asbestos exposure, according to the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society, a conservation group. This is because Illinois beaches along Lake Michigan are contaminated with asbestos released from the Johns-Manville Asbestos Superfund Site located in Waukegan, Illinois. The 150-acre site is home to one million tons of asbestos waste, some of which is periodically released into Lake Michigan. Once in the lake, the asbestos fibers are carried southward by the current and wash up along beaches reaching as far south as Chicago’s Oak Street Beach.
Although public officials have claimed the present levels of asbestos are not a threat to public health, Jeffery Camplin, an environmental/health safety engineer and nationally known asbestos expert, argues that the studies upon which the officials rely were “deeply flawed and severely lacking in standardized scientific protocols.” To help protect beachgoers, the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society advises against eating and drinking at contaminated beaches, or disturbing the sand in any way. Further, visitors should vigorously shower and clean both themselves and any belongings before leaving the beach, taking care not to shake out towels or dust off shoes, which could release harmful asbestos fibers into the air.
For more information, go to the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society’s press release.
