Illinois EPA to clean up trash from Jim Edgar Panther Creek

SPRINGFIELD —Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott announced that the Agency will begin cleanup of waste in Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area, located on Cass County Highway 11 approximately six miles north of Ashland; the property is owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  The cleanup is being conducted as part of the recently enacted I-RID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps) Program.  The Illinois EPA has been working with Department of Natural Resources officials to identify the waste and properly manage its disposal.

 

Among the wastes to be removed are various types of scrap metals, discarded farm equipment and machinery, numerous rolls of wire fencing, process woods, 55-gallon drums, and used tires.  For ease of removal, the waste has been consolidated on-site in an open pasture area.

 

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 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.

 

The cleanup at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area is expected to take two to three days to complete.  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.

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