Brady Kaiser-Bell
Mike Phillips
GEL 1007
December 8, 2013
Introduction
My house is located in Princeton in the Princeton North Quadrangle in section 16 in tier 16N, range 9E (Princeton North Quadrangle). Map 1 shows Princeton. The high school is close to where I live. Bureau Creek is to the west of Princeton. Most of the land is flat, the only steep slopes are to the west near Bureau Creek. The land use is mostly residential. The surficial deposits under my house consist of the Batestown Member of the Lemont Formation of the Wedron Group. The deposits are mostly a mixture of gravel, sand, silt, and clay (Surficial Deposits of Illinois). The bedrock under my house is the Pennsylvanian-age Tradewater Formation. This contains thick layers of shale and sandstone and a thin layer of coal (Bedrock Geology of Illinois). In my report I made several important findings about the natural resources, natural hazards, human-induced hazards, and plans for future use. Natural Resources
According to the United States Department of Agriculture the soil in the area around my house is the Drummer soil series. Drummer soils are the most extensive soils in Illinois. They occur on more than 1.5 million acres in the state. They are the most productive soils in the state. A lot of the soil in the area around Princeton is used to grow crops. Our water comes from wells drilled into a sand aquifer. This is good because the hydraulic conductivity is high allowing water to flow through it easily. The closest mineral resource being used is sand and gravel. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey a company named Tri-Con Materials owns a sand and gravel pit near Princeton. Map 2 shows the sand and gravel pit location. Wind energy from wind turbines is an energy resource that is located fairly close to Princeton. These turbines help generate electricity.
Natural Hazards
Flooding is not a problem where my house is, however to the west the Bureau Creek can flood and may affect some homes in Princeton. Map 3 from the Illinois Floodplain Maps website shows some of the areas that flooding can affect. Areas that are at risk for flooding have flood insurance available. My house as well as some of my neighbor’s houses have had basements flood from heavy rainfall. Another natural hazard is earthquakes. Earthquakes are not common in Princeton, but there is a potential for a strong earthquake to occur. Map 4 shows the strongest earthquake that would be possible, which is a VI on the Modified Mercalli Scale. This intensity of earthquake would cause a slight amount of damage. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency website has earthquake information and how to prepare for an earthquake. Landslides are not an issue around my home. The only place that a landslide could occur is at the very western edge of town where there are some steep slopes. You can tell that creep is occurring because many of the trees’ trunks are angled. Radon gas is another hazard. Map 5 from the IEMA website shows that Bureau County is at high risk for radon gas. A radon test kit can be bought or someone can be hired to test for radon gas.

Human-Induced Hazards According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency a leaking underground storage tank is located at Beck oil 1838 North Main Street. 8/9/2011 is the date that the incident report was issued and cleanup began. Cleanup has not been finished. Princeton’s wastewater goes to the Princeton Wastewater Treatment Plant. There are no current or abandoned mines in Princeton so my house is in no danger from subsidence. A location that is close to my house that could potentially be polluting the environment is the Princeton Municipal Electric Utility, which is only a few blocks from my house. According to the EPA this facility’s operating for fossil fuel electric power generation and could pose a risk for air pollution.
Plans for future use
There are no future plans for land use. The land should continue to be used for residential use.

Map 1

Map 2Top of Form

Map 3

Map 4

Map 5

Map 6

Works Cited
Bedrock Geology of Illinois. Urbana, Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey, 2005. Print
“Drummer Illinois State Soil”. Illinois State Geological Survey. N.d. Web. 1 December 2013
“Earthquake information”. Illinois Emergency Management Agency. 2013. Web. 2 December 2013
“Envirofacts Multisystem”. Environmental Protection Agency. 2013. Web. 4 December 2013
“Illinois Floodplains Maps”. Illinois Flood Maps.org. 2013. Web. 2 December 2013
“ISGS Directory of Illinois Mineral Producers and Maps of Extraction Sites”. Illinois State Geological Survey. 1997. Web. 29 November 2013
“Leaking Underground Storage Tank Incident Tracking”. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. 2013. Web. 2 December 2013
Princeton North Quadrangle. State of Illinois. Denver, Colorado: United States Geological Survey, 1979. Print
“Radon in Illinois”. Illinois Emergency Management Agency. 2013. Web. 2 December 2013
Surficial Deposits of Illinois. Urbana, Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey, 2000. Print