Bills Fueled By Sterigenics Crisis Pass State Senate

DOWNERS GROVE, IL -- The Illinois State Senate recently passed a bill that aims to protect the public from dangerous emissions like those tied to the Sterigenics crisis in Willowbrook. Senate Bill 1854, sponsored and filed by Downers Grove State Sen. John Curran (R), sets standards for the monitoring and enforcement of ethylene oxide emissions throughout the state of Illinois.

The Willowbrook Sterigenics plant was shut down by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in February after record-breaking levels of ethylene oxide were detected near the plant. The ethylene oxide levels detected near Sterigenics were as high as 11 micrograms per cubic meter.

The bill acts as an amendment to the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and subjects facilities to mandatory random inspections and testing to ensure that they are not producing fugitive emissions of ethylene oxide that are above zero. Facilities would also be subjected to random ambient air testing at least four times annually.

Any place that is found to release ethylene oxide emissions that are above state limits would be required to shut down and make necessary changes to prevent the dangerous emissions before reopening.

Senate Bill 1854 was one of three new pieces of legislation introduced in the aftermath of the Sterigenics incident.State Senate Bill 1852, which requires a facility to notify local government and nearby residents in the case of an ethylene oxide leak, also passed the state senate.

The bills are heading to the Illinois House of Representatives next.

Read more on Patch:

Sterigenics Plant Shut Down By EPA

Burr Ridge Calls For Immediate Shutdown Of Sterigenics