Illinois agency refers 'enforcement action' against company after smokestack demolition
CHICAGO - An Illinois agency has referred an enforcement action against a company whose demolition of a coal plant caused a dust cloud to cover parts of Chicago neighborhood.
The April 11 implosion at a Hilco Redevelopment Partners site coated Little Village homes, vehicles and streets with dust, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has referred an “enforcement action” to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, saying that Hilco Redevelopment Partners violated the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and the terms and conditions of the company’s “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general storm water permit for construction site activities.”
The agency said that Hilco did not fully execute the “stormwater pollution prevention plan” that accompanied the stormwater permit that the company acquired in 2019, which includes “dust control measures” for the demolished site.
“While some dust suppression controls were utilized, a substantial plume of dust exited the site from the implosion,” IEPA’s statement said.
John J. Kim, IEPA director, “requested that Hilco be required to work with” the agency to “prevent future dust control issues.”
Hilco is “in open dialogue with the Illinois EPA, the Illinois Attorney General’s office and other agencies.” The “health, safety and welfare of the local community is of paramount concern to Hilco Redevelopment Partners as we work toward completing this project,” according to a company-issued statement.
The agency also sent Hilco a violation notice for “air and water pollution-related violations stemming from the incident” a day after Hilco sent a “Incidence of Non-compliance Report” on April 15.
“What you’re seeing is exactly what we’ve been asking for and what we thought to be true,” Kim Wasserman, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said Wednesday. “They violated massively — not just city protocol, but state protocol. We’re glad the IEPA came through and did their due diligence on this.”
Hilco recently apologized for causing “anxiety and fear.” But that didn’t stop the company from being sued. Clifford Law Offices filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of residents earlier this month.
The company has been fined $68,000 and has been given 16 citations. A developer and two contractors overseeing the destruction face nearly $70,000 in fines.