Illinois EPA initiates cleanup of potential environmental hazard from open dumping in Chicago

CHICAGO  — Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Director Doug Scott today announced that the Agency will begin cleanup of illegally dumped waste in Cook County.  The cleanup is located on Chicago Park District Property at 3545 N. Rockwell Street in Chicago on a vacant lot west of Lane Technical High School Stadium.  Weather permitting, the work will begin Monday, April 23 and is anticipated to finish Wednesday, April 25. 

 

It is estimated that there are between 100-160 cubic yards of waste to be removed.  Among the dumped items are general construction or demolition debris, yard waste, and household waste.  The cleanup is being conducted as part of the recently enacted I-RID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps) Program.  

 

"Illegal open dumping around Illinois can potentially pose health and safety hazards to both people and the environment, but the I-RID program has begun to tackle those environmental eyesores," said Illinois EPA Director Scott.  "This is the first time in the 36-year history of the Illinois EPA that we have had significant state funds to address orphan open dumps that have festered for years, and I am grateful to Governor Blagojevich and the General Assembly for providing additional funding and authority to Illinois EPA to clean up these messes."

 

The I-RID Program became law in 2005 to give the IEPA additional authority to combat open dumping and clean up existing dumps.  These dumps often become a magnet to fly dumpers, and frequently become health and safety hazards.  The program uses part of existing landfill fee revenues to cover costs of additional IEPA inspection staff and cleanups.

 

With the funding, the IEPA can hire contractors to clean up open dumps where responsible parties cannot be located or where various specific imminent threats, such as fire, are present.  The new law also provides for permitting and regulation of the disposal of clean construction or demolition debris, such as in former quarries, and gives the IEPA Director additional authority to seal sites where there is a potential risk for harm to human health or the environment.

 

Since cleanups were launched, the program has conducted over 50 open dump cleanups throughout the state, in both rural and urban areas.  Approximately 9,000 tons of solid waste has been collected and sent to regulated landfills for disposal, over 125 tons of waste has been sent to salvage and recycling facilities and over 60 tons of tires have been collected and recycled.

 

Working with local and county officials to identify candidates for I-RID cleanups, Illinois EPA has cleaned up sites ranging from the tip of Southern Illinois near Cave-in-Rock to rural central and eastern Illinois and urban locations in the Chicago metro area.

 

The IEPA will periodically inspect the site to ensure that the problem does not recur, and has the authority to issue administrative citations to violators of this and other provisions of the Environmental Protection Act.

 

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