WHEATON, Ill. — A lawsuit has been filed in DuPage County Circuit Court by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madiigan and the DuPage County state's attorney alleging Sterigenics U.S. LLC is releasing a dangerous pollutant at its Willowbrook, Illinois, plant.
Madigan and DuPage State's Attorney General Robert Berlin allege Sterigenics is permitting its Willowbrook plant to emit ethylene oxide (EtO) and they are asking the court to test EtO levels and to stop the company from further emissions if unsafe levels are found in the area.
"For too long, Sterigenics emitted a dangerous, toxic chemical into the air putting the public's health at risk," Madigan said in a statement. "In addition to filing our lawsuit, I urge the General Assembly to pass legislation to ban or greatly restrict the use of ethylene oxide in Illinois."
"My office will not sit idly by while our residents are exposed to a noxious gas categorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an agent 'carcinogenic to humans' as is alleged in this case," Berlin added. "We are alleging that since at least 2006, through July of this year, Sterigenics U.S. allowed the release of ethylene oxide gas into the atmosphere dangerously close to a densely populated residential area with nearly 20,000 people living within one mile of the alleged release. The issue of clean air is not negotiable."
According to Madigan's office, the EPA currently is looking at Sterigenics' self EtO emissions test results after the company's implementation of new pollution controls earlier this year.