Officials from Ameren and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency have said the former manufactured gas plant at Fifth and Hill streets in Champaign does not pose an “immediate” health risk to surrounding residents.

The site is one of nearly 100 such former plants across the state, according to the Illinois EPA.

These sites previously transformed coal to gas, were used to light streets or were used as sources of energy for the towns that housed them.

The site at Fifth and Hill, currently owned by Ameren, has not been producing gas since 1953, but has not been fully cleaned up since the stop in production.

“We know the site needs to be remediated,” said Leigh Morris, spokesperson for Ameren.

Stan Black, community relations manager for the Illinois EPA, said there were other contaminated sites in Illinois that posed a greater environmental threat and public danger. Black said the other sites needed to be cleaned up before they could begin work on the abandoned Champaign plant.

Black also said the standards for cleaning projects like the one on Fifth and Hill have become increasingly stringent in recent years, which is part of the reason why the site has not yet been fully cleaned.

The issue recently gained public and media attention following the Jan. 19 meeting organized by the Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, Champaign County Health Care Consumers, and the University Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

The meeting was informational about the toxic site and was meant to kick-off the Fifth and Hill Neighborhood Rights campaign in an effort to educate the public and residents about the dangers of the site.

“The people that organized that meeting are from Urbana, not the Douglass Park neighborhood,” said Mable Thomas, the neighborhood coordinator for the City of Champaign.

Thomas also added that according to the information presented by Ameren and what she has witnessed, she does not believe the abandoned site poses a health threat to residents. Thomas said she also believes there has been a great deal of cooperation from both the Illinois EPA and Ameren.

The meeting spoke of a possible cancer cluster concerning houses surrounding the Fifth and Hill site. However, this remains unconfirmed.

“The last time I spoke to the Illinois Department of Public Health, they were not aware of any cancer clusters in Champaign county,” Morris said.

Black said the most serious issue would be contaminated groundwater, but believes this is not a concern because the neighborhood’s residents do not drink groundwater.

Another pathway of exposure is through direct contact with soil, Black said. But, this is a very low risk because the contaminants are deeply embedded in the ground.

Black also said the sampling that Ameren has done was part of the voluntary program to investigate and restore the site and the investigation has been overseen by the Illinois EPA.

Officials at the Illinois EPA and Ameren said they hope that through continued investigations, they will know the full extent of the contamination by midspring and be able to begin cleaning projects within the year.