Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-Times
A senior political appointee in the Trump administration stifled attempts by Chicago-based environmental regulators to investigate and remedy cancer-causing ethylene oxide releases in the Chicago area, a new government report says.
The unnamed official instructed the Chicago office of the federal Environmental Protection Agency to refrain from inspecting ethylene oxide facilities including the Sterigenics medical sterilization plant in Willowbrook unless asked to by state officials, according to the report from the EPA’s inspector general.
Citing information investigators gathered from managers from the EPA’s Chicago region office, the report says “senior leaders” instructed staff members of the agency to limit air monitoring around the Sterigenics plant, refrain from seeking health and risk assessments from federal health officials and hold off on sending requests for information to ethylene oxide facilities in the area.
Trump appointees blocked EPA from investigating ethylene oxide polluters and prevented staff from warning Americans about the cancer-causing gas, report says
chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gurnee s mayor-elect promises to put pretty boring agenda into action making sure village delivers on services
chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lake County mayoral elections to watch for on April 6 Clockwise from upper from left, Dawn Abernathy, Steve Lentz, Robin Meier and Thomas Ouimet are candidates for Mundelein mayor. Jeff Halen, left, and Thomas Poynton are candidates for Lake Zurich mayor in the April 6 election. Thomas Hood, left, and David Weinstein are candidates for Gurnee mayor in the April 6 election. Stacy Ellis, left, Scott Gartner and Larry Hanson are candidates for Antioch mayor in the 2021 election. Sandra Jo McClain, left, and Jeff Sode are candidates for Wauconda mayor in the April 6 election. Brian Lohse, left, and Roger Byrne are candidates for Vernon Hills mayor in the April 6 election.
Posted3/1/2021 5:30 AM
The two candidates vying to be Gurnee s next mayor disagree on how well the village has addressed concerns about the cancer-causing gas ethylene oxide and what steps they can take going forward.
Village board member and mayoral candidate Thomas Hood maintains the village has done much by working with lawmakers who crafted new regulations regarding ETO, partnering with other municipalities to do expanded testing and keeping residents in the loop with 42 news updates so far.
David Weinstein, however, said the village has done nothing about Vantage Specialty Chemicals, a Gurnee-based manufacturer that uses ETO as a sterilizing agent and releases emissions into the air.