Johns-Manville Corp.

Overview

The Johns-Manville Corp. site covers about 350 acres in Waukegan, Illinois. It includes a former manufacturing facility, disposal areas, and nearby contaminated properties. The facility stopped operating in 1998, and all manufacturing buildings were demolished by 2001. The site was added to the National Priorities List in September 1983 and has been divided into multiple operable units to manage cleanup in phases.

Asbestos is the primary contaminant of concern, but EPA has also identified arsenic, chromium, and lead at the site. All four contaminants appear in the JM Waste Disposal Area and have been found across a range of media, including air, soil, groundwater, surface water, solid waste, sludge, and debris. Asbestos inhalation poses the most significant health threat. EPA has worked with Johns-Manville and ComEd to consolidate waste and install covers that keep asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

Cleanup has made substantial progress. The main waste disposal area, which holds about 3 million cubic yards of waste, was capped with rock and vegetated cover, with construction finishing in 2018. Asbestos was removed from the Shooting Range in 2002. The Parking Lot and Greenwood Avenue Shoulder areas were partially excavated and covered with clean soil by 2016 and 2017. The Building Manufacturing Area received a No Further Remediation letter in 2017. One area, the Nature Preserve Road, still has asbestos in subsurface soils that occasionally surfaces due to erosion or freeze-thaw cycles. A Record of Decision Amendment was signed in November 2025 to change the cleanup approach for the nature preserve area, replacing a soil cover plan with monitoring, institutional controls, engineering controls, and removal and disposal of contaminated material. A removal action at the main site is estimated to wrap up between April and June 2028.

Human exposure is currently under control according to EPA assessments, meaning no unacceptable exposure pathways exist at this time. However, the site has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List and has not achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status. Groundwater migration has not yet been fully assessed, so EPA cannot confirm whether contaminated groundwater movement has stabilized. The most recent five-year review, completed in April 2023, found the remedy at the main disposal area is currently protective but noted that additional long-term actions are needed. Institutional controls restrict residential development and other incompatible land uses across the site.

Community members can get involved through the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group and the Community Involvement Plan for City of Waukegan Sites. EPA factsheets, the proposed plan document, and slides from a June 2025 public meeting are also available. For questions, residents can contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Francisco Arcaute or Remedial Project Manager Dave Nadel directly.