March 29, 2019

Duckworth, Durbin Reiterate Call for Air Quality Monitoring in Lake County for Cancer-Causing EtO Emissions

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — Following the EPA’s announcement that they will conclude ambient air quality monitoring near the idled Sterigenics facilities in Willowbrook, Illinois at the end of the month, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement:

 “Results of the EPA’s air quality monitoring confirmed that high levels of ethylene oxide were being emitted by Sterigenics, posing a significant public health threat to the people of Willowbrook and the surrounding communities. The EPA must begin ambient air quality monitoring near Medline and Vantage – the two facilities in Lake County that produce EtO emissions. Families living in Waukegan and Gurnee have just as much right to know whether the air they breathe is safe and if they are being exposed to dangerous levels of cancer-causing emissions as their Willowbrook neighbors do. The EPA should immediately begin monitoring in Lake County.”

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