Madigan
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Legal Newsline) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit on Monday against a Clinton County waste composting company for allegedly processing and accepting waste with a permit that had expired.
Clinton County Compost Inc., located near Hoffman on Route 161, accepted waste after Feb. 1, which was the date that its Illinois Environmental Protection Agency operating permit expired, Madigan says. The facility allegedly continued accepting some waste through March 30, as indicated by its most recent inspection.
The two count complaint contains multiple other alleged permit violations based on multiple IEPA inspections. The alleged violations include failure to process landscape waste in a timely manner, failure to prevent the ponding of landscape waste leachate and allowing a fire at the facility in 2011 to spread to incoming piles of waste.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in Clinton County Circuit Court, seeks a penalty of $10,000 for each day the violations continue and a statutory maximum civil penalty of $50,000 for each violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and related regulations.
"We value the vast natural resources we have here in Illinois," Madigan said. "It is critical that we protect our water and wildlife and ensure that these precious resources are restored whenever they have been polluted."