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Sunday, August 23, 2009
Environment - "Illinois pollution enforcement hampered by politics"
Really?
Michael Hawthorne has this lengthy story today in the Chicago Tribune. A quote:
What appeared to be an obvious violation of state environmental laws became entangled in one of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's political feuds, delaying action for months. Dozens of other cases against polluters languished as well, largely because Blagojevich and his top aides refused to refer them to his archnemesis, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, a Tribune investigation found.The bitter dispute still reverberates through state government today, eight months after Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges and then impeached and removed from office. Nearly 19 months after it was discovered, the Schiller Park site still hasn't been cleaned up, and several other older cases are moving through an enforcement system that Gov. Pat Quinn and Madigan only recently have begun to repair. * * *
There are signs the frosty relationship between environmental enforcers is thawing under Quinn, who at one point faced the prospect of a primary challenge from Madigan next year before she decided to run for re-election as attorney general.
The state EPA has sent about 18 cases a month to the attorney general since May. Lawsuits in the works include one against a railroad involved in a train derailment that spilled thousands of gallons of ethanol into a Rockford-area creek, and two others involving Downstate hog farms that dumped liquid manure into nearby streams.
Anchor Metal Finishing also was referred to the attorney general for enforcement, more than a year after EPA inspectors found leaky barrels of toxic waste at the Schiller Park site. Company officials have not responded to the lawsuit and could not be reached for comment last week.
Meanwhile, the state has called in the U.S. EPA to oversee the cleanup.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 23, 2009 11:35 AM
Posted to Environment