Old Vs. New

* A coal-gasification plant used to manufacture natural gas, primarily for street lighting, operated at the site on the southeast side of Taylorville from 1912 to 1932. Groundwater contaminants discovered there included coal tar and other contaminants.

* The site owner, Central Illinois Public Service Co. (now AmerenCIPS), began the initial cleanup in the mid-1980s.

* A traditional “pump and treat” method pumps groundwater from the site through a system of carbon filters to remove contaminants. A new experimental method injects a “chemical oxidizer” into the site to speed the breakdown of contaminants and make it easier to pump them out of the ground.

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