 Madigan's appeal was filed this week with the 4th District Appellate
Court in Springfield. The attorney general contends that the
Illinois Pollution Control Board erred in deciding not to review the
failure of the landfill operator, Clinton Landfill Inc., to obtain
local approval from the DeWitt County Board before constructing and
operating a chemical waste landfill.In considering this issue,
the Illinois Pollution Control Board concluded in its ruling that it
was prohibited from reviewing Clinton Landfill's plan to build and
operate a chemical waste landfill on top of the Mahomet Aquifer
without first obtaining local approval.
"The landfill sits atop an aquifer that is the source of drinking
water for hundreds of thousands of central Illinoisans," said
Madigan. "We're asking the court to intervene in the interest of
their health and safety."
Clinton Landfill originally obtained approval as a municipal
solid waste landfill. Years later, and without further local
approval from the DeWitt County Board, the landfill owners applied
for and obtained a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency to build and operate a chemical waste landfill within the
boundaries of the site previously approved for solid waste. The
permit allows the company to proceed without local approval in spite
of the significant risk to local residents' drinking water if the
chemical waste were to leak into the aquifer.
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Area residents and local officials filed a complaint with the
Illinois Pollution Control Board, citing the lack of local
approval of the company's modified plans for the site. The
attorney general later intervened in the case in 2012 as a
plaintiff. The local government plaintiffs have also filed a
petition for review with the appellate court.
The appeal is being handled by the attorney general's Civil
Appeals Division.
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Petition for review (PDF)
[Text from file received from the office of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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