Press Release - Thursday, July 12, 2007
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Illinois EPA begins clean up of Hardin County environmental hazard
CAVE-IN-ROCK -- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Director Doug Scott today announced that the Agency will begin cleanup of an illegal dump site in Hardin County. The site is located on 1525 E Road, northeast of Cave in Rock. The clean up will begin Friday, July 13 and, weather permitting, work will finish Wednesday, July 18. The cleanups are being conducted as part of the I-RID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps) Program.
It is estimated that there are approximately 150 cubic yards of illegally disposed waste. Among the waste to be removed are glass, plastic, tires, demolition debris, and household wastes. Illegally disposed tires are of great concern because they can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, some of which may carry the West Nile Virus.
A previous I-RID cleanup during September 2006, near a tributary to Bib Creek, which flows into the Ohio River in Hardin County, removed various metals, car parts, tires, batteries, plastic, and household trash.
The I-RID Program became law in 2005 to give the Illinois EPA 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.
"Illegal open dumping continues to be a chronic problem in Illinois and elsewhere and has a detrimental effect on the health and well-being of a community," said Director Scott. "I am grateful to Governor Blagojevich and the General Assembly for providing additional funding and authority to Illinois EPA to clean up more of these messes while we continue our enforcement efforts against those who cause them."
Illinois legislators approved Governor Blagojevich's I-RID initiative to give the IEPA additional authority to make sure solid waste disposal facilities are properly operated and provide the Agency additional resources to combat open dumping. Another component of I-RID is additional inspection authority to make sure solid waste disposal facilities are properly operated.
With the funding, the Illinois EPA can hire contractors to clean up open dumps where responsible parties can not 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 and demolition debris, such as in former quarries, and gives the Illinois EPA Director additional authority to seal sites where there is a potential risk for harm to human health or the environment.
The Illinois EPA will periodically inspect the sites 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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