A DuPage County judge on Friday signed off on an agreement that allows a suburban medical equipment sterilization company to reopen, but with tighter restrictions on its chemical emissions.
Judge Paul Fullerton’s approval drew immediate criticism from opponents, who say Oak Brook-based Sterigenics has released cancer-causing chemicals into the environment for decades and that it should never be allowed to reopen its plant, which is in Willowbrook.
“Anyone who lives near Sterigenics will shudder to learn that this dangerous company will be allowed to reopen,” said Antonio Romanucci, one of several lawyers representing people who are suing Sterigenics, claiming the company’s emissions made them or their family members seriously ill. “They have proven time and again that they are irresponsible and willing to put countless lives in jeopardy by emitting the toxic chemical ethylene oxide into the surrounding atmosphere at high levels.”
In February, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shut down the plant after air quality monitoring spikes of ethylene oxide in surrounding neighborhoods. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in July reached an agreement with Sterigenics allowing the plant to reopen after the installation of additional emission capture and control equipment.
On Friday, Raoul’s office said in a joint statement with Berlin’s office that the agreement Fullerton approved “gives our offices the tools to act quickly to protect the community and hold Sterigenics accountable for any future violations of Illinois’ new ethylene oxide restrictions or other state environmental laws.”
The statement went on to say, “To be clear, nothing within the consent order guarantees that the Willowbrook facility will reopen in the immediate future — or that it will reopen at all.”
Willowbrook Mayor Frank Trilla said in a separate statement Friday that, “Despite the court’s action today ..., our fight to ban ethylene oxide in our community is not over.”
Trilla said he is behind draft legislation that seeks to allow municipalities to ban the chemical in their communities.
In a statement Friday, Sterigenics officials said the attorney general’s office acknowledged that “there is no uncertainty that the company operated in compliance with federal standards regarding its ethylene oxide emissions” and that the company “will ensure that [EO] emissions from the [Willowbrook] site are negligible and not a public health hazard.”
“Sterigenics has always operated safely, and we are pleased that the State has acknowledged the safety of these new controls. The company will continue to work to complete the permitting process regarding the enhancements detailed in the Consent Order,” the statement further read.
Contributing: AP
