Illinois EPA Assists Village of Washington Park in Open Dump Clean up

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois EPA and the Village of Washington Park  began removing waste on Dec. 21 from an area between 40^th and Monk Street and 5200 Audubon Avenue, in Washington Park.

 

This site, which is located in an Environmental Justice area, was brought to the Agency's attention during a reconnaissance fly over with the Illinois Army National Guard in late September. The subsequent inspection revealed approximately 100 tons of various waste materials, including furniture, demolition debris, glass, plastic, tires, and miscellaneous household wastes.  The Village will supply the personnel and equipment for the cleanup and the Agency will provide for the disposal of the waste and cover the costs associated with the recycling of the tires. The Illinois EPA expects the cleanup to take three to five days, depending on weather conditions.

 

The Illinois EPA's portion of the funding will come from a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) enforcement agreement with Allied Waste landfill in Roxana.   The penalties assessed through the SEP were applied to this cleanup rather than being deposited into the state treasury.  No taxpayer generated funds are being used for disposal.

 

Through various funding sources, the Illinois EPA has been able to clean up nearly 300 long-festering open dumps all over the state since the fall of 2006, with several in the St. Clair -Madison County area, including: Alorton, Canteen Township in the Washington Park area, Centreville and Centreville Township and East St. Louis.  This has enabled the agency to remove and recycle 760 tons of tires and over 1,140 tons of metal. Nearly 41,500 tons of other debris have been removed and taken to regulated landfills for proper disposal. 

 

The property owner has a responsibility to prevent open dumping and to clean up his or her property. However, the illegal dumper is also liable for open dumping and is subject to enforcement action from state and local authorities. For more information on open dumping, visit www.epa.state.il.us.

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