EPA report finds delays in inspections of cancer-causing emissions
Ethylene oxide gas emissions found at facilities in DuPage, Lake counties
By SARAH MANSUR
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD A senior federal official stalled inspections by regional offices to monitor cancer-causing emissions at suburban facilities in Illinois, according to a report by the inspector general which audits the performance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The report also found EPA officials delayed informing suburban residents about the ethylene oxide emissions at a Willowbrook sterilization facility and did not conduct public meetings with residents living near two other facilities in Lake County.
Sarah Mansur
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD A senior federal official stalled inspections by regional offices to monitor cancer-causing emissions at suburban facilities in Illinois, according to a report by the inspector general which audits the performance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The report also found EPA officials delayed informing suburban residents about the ethylene oxide emissions at a Willowbrook sterilization facility and did not conduct public meetings with residents living near two other facilities in Lake County.
The report examines the U.S. EPA’s response to ethylene oxide emissions monitoring at the three Illinois facilities, following the agency’s determination in late 2016 that the odorless gas is 30 times more carcinogenic to adults than previously thought.
Trump appointees blocked EPA from investigating ethylene oxide polluters and prevented staff from warning Americans about the cancer-causing gas, report says yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.