by Sarah Gomez
For over four years my graduate research has focused on investigating the effects of contaminants on our environment. Our grants and publications are motivated by the contamination legacies that serve as the basis for the U.S. Superfund Program, a federal program dedicated to the cleanup of the nation’s uncontrolled hazardous waste sites, and we do our best to capture the importance in their remediation. However, it is often difficult to fully grasp and explain the impact that contamination has on our environment and the people living within close proximity to these sites. My involvement in the collaboration advocating for the remediation of the DePue, IL Superfund site has not only provided me with a more in depth perspective on the contamination I so often write about, but has also further motivated my work and passion for raising awareness of key environmental issues.
In November 2011, Franz asked if I would join him in an educational outreach collaboration launched by the Environmental Advocacy Center at the Northwestern University School of Law, advocating for thorough and rapid clean-up of the DePue Superfund site located 200 miles southwest of Chicago, IL. Nancy Loeb, who represents the village pro bono, had recently acquired data from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) that documented nearly two decades worth of water and soil contamination testing. In order to develop a tool by which the hazards of the contamination found at the DePue Superfund site could be communicated to the village residents, it was critical for the collaboration to find individuals familiar with the data contained in the contamination reports. The opportunity to participate in this collaboration provided me with a great way to apply my knowledge and expertise to a local issue and make a positive impact on the community and the environment.
750, 000 ton slag pile containing over 30 different contaminants that continue to leach into the environment. This photo was taken on November 30th, 2011 in DePue, IL by Sarah Gomez.
My first task after joining the collaboration was to take a trip with fellow collaborators to DePue, IL. The first landmark I noticed when entering the Village of DePue was the 750,000 ton slag pile (image above) that stretches almost a quarter mile long. At first glance I wasn’t sure about the origin of this landmark, but after being told that this fixture contained over 30 different contaminants that continue to leach into the surrounding soil, surface water, and groundwater of DePue, the reality of the situation felt like it had just punched me in the stomach.
After returning from my trip, I led a team of four undergraduate interns in sorting through nearly two decades worth of IEPA assessment reports documenting 1,959 soil and water samples collected and tested for over 30 different contaminants, including lead, arsenic, chromium, and mercury. Compiling this data took almost 6 months, but the results made all the hard work worthwhile. Working closely with Groundswell Educational Films, a local non-profit organization specializing in documentaries that raise awareness to social justice issues, we developed an interactive contamination map to communicate contaminant hazards to the public based on the data we had compiled. This map can now be found on the Cleanup DePue website, cleanupdepue.org.
A few months after the launch of the Cleanup DePue website, Franz came to me with the idea to use the contamination map as the foundation for a laboratory assignment to be used in his undergraduate general chemistry class here at Northwestern. I thought it was a great idea and immediately agreed to the task, perhaps foolishly, without pausing to think “Hey Sarah, you’ve never written a 3-hour assignment for undergraduate general chemistry students before.” I wanted the assignment to be fun and integrative and the ideas started flowing at an overwhelming rate. When I finally sat down to write the assignment, it only took 14 hours to complete the first draft and after a few rounds of edits the assignment was ready and 178 undergraduate students were tasked with completing it!
The assignment was titled “A General Chemistry Assignment Analyzing Environmental Contamination for the DePue, IL, National Superfund Site” and was recently published in the Journal of Chemical Education. Its goal is to help students develop skills in data management and interpretation while simultaneously encouraging them to personally connect with an important environmental issue. The assignment is broken up into four parts, with each part building on the knowledge and skills gained in the section(s) preceding it. Furthermore, the assignment is partially self-directed so that students can personalize the assignment to align with their own interests. The pre-lab assignment and first three sections guide students through the site, contamination data, and data analysis including identification of data trends. The final exercise, however, is my favorite. Students are tasked with mapping a walking route to school for a DePue student and using results from soil samples within a two-block radius of their route in order to identify contaminants and estimate how much contamination is brought into the school by that DePue student. Then, assuming that the floors are not cleaned during the 13 years a DePue student attends the DePue Unit School, students calculate the amount of each contaminant (in grams) accumulated in the school. Fun additions to this section could include having students discuss questions such as what assumptions have been made, how do these assumptions impact their calculations, and what other factors should be considered? Students can also be asked to propose possible remediation strategies. The possibilities are endless!
Of course this classroom assignment would not have been possible without the work of the DePue collaboration and their input while preparing this assignment for publication was invaluable. I encourage everyone to check out the cleanupdepue.org website to learn more about our work and discover the wealth of information available regarding the town and its contamination legacy. If you choose to incorporate our assignment in your classroom feel free to contact us with any questions and we would greatly appreciate any feedback you might have!