Illinois EPA initiates cleanup of illegal dump in East St. Louis

EAST ST.LOUIS - Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director Doug Scott today announced that the Agency began cleanup of a large illegal dump site located at 8th St. and Trendley St., four blocks south of Broadway, in Washington Park.  Weather permitting the clean up will finish Friday, June 27. 

 

Over the next few days, crews will work hard to remove nearly 300 cubic yards of waste from the community, including household garbage, tires and demolition debris which have been disposed of illegally. 

 

Improperly disposed tires provide a breeding habitat for the type of mosquito that is the primary carrier of the West Nile Virus.  The cleanup is being conducted as part of the I-RID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps) Program, which continues to remove environmental hazards and protect our Illinois' beautiful landscape.

 

"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 37-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."

 

I-RID was launched by the Illinois EPA in the fall of 2006, after the Governor and Legislature had previously authorized the first significant funding in the agency's history to clean up illegal open dumps where responsible parties could not be found or practically required to do cleanups.  The program also gives the Illinois EPA Director additional authority to seal sites where there is a potential risk for harm to human health or the environment.

 

Since then, approximately150 of these often long-festering open dumps all over the state have been properly cleaned up by the Illinois EPA.  Almost 300 tons of tires and more than 500 tons of metal have been recycled from the cleanups and nearly 25,000 tons of other debris has been taken to regulated landfills for proper disposal.  Items fly-dumped have included a car chassis, refrigerators, couches and even fiberglass boats.

 

With the funding, the Illinois EPA 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 Illinois EPA Director additional authority to seal sites where there is a potential risk for harm to human health or the environment.

 

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 Illinois EPA 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.