* Michael Hawthorne at the Tribune…

Industry-connected political appointees in the Trump administration blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from investigating ethylene oxide polluters and prevented career staff from warning thousands of Americans who live near sources of the cancer-causing gas, according to a scathing new report from the agency’s inspector general.

The latest findings by the independent watchdog add more details to reporting by the Chicago Tribune since August 2018, when the Trump EPA released the latest National Air Toxics Assessment without notice and left it up to state and local officials to decide for themselves whether to draw attention to elevated cancer risks in their communities.

On multiple occasions, the inspector general found, Trump political appointees in Washington ordered staff in the EPA’s Chicago office to dramatically scale back efforts to understand the dangers of ethylene oxide in the Midwest, most notably in west suburban Willowbrook and two north suburbs, Gurnee and Waukegan in Lake County.

Repeated political interference and a woeful lack of public education about the dangerous gas ran counter to the EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment, the report concluded.

The IG report is here.

* This press release was issued late yesterday afternoon…

Joint Statement from Leader Jim Durkin, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi and Sen. John Curran:

“In a comprehensive audit that was conducted between March of 2019 and February of 2021, the OIG found that the US EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation delayed communicating known health risks to community members in and around the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook. Through the investigation, the OIG’s office also found a complete lack of policy requirements and protocols to help ensure the public would be notified in a timely manner when a potential health risk was identified at an ethylene oxide emitting facility.

While the findings in the audit should come as no surprise to those of us who fought the Sterigenics battle back in 2018, they are nonetheless alarming. The US EPA’s own mission and risk communication principles stress the importance of communicating accurate health and environmental risks to the public and involving them as legitimate partners. The US EPA and Office of Air and Radiation failed at every turn, and instead placed thousands of area residents in danger. This matter needs to be further investigated to determine whether the acts constitute negligence or even worse, collusion with the company.

Our decision to shut down this polluter was the right thing to do for our constituents and our communities. This should never happen at any level of government, including state and local government.”

* Also from yesterday…

Today, U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider (IL-10), Bill Foster (IL-11), Lauren Underwood (IL-15), and Marie Newman (IL-03) released a joint statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General’s report that Trump political officials blocked ethylene oxide (EtO) monitoring in Illinois:

“The Trump Administration ignored our calls – and cries from our communities – for help when we knew the profound threat posed by EtO. The Trump-appointed leadership at EPA actively stood in the way of meaningful action in Lake County when they should have been making sure that Americans were safe from this known carcinogen. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration to guarantee appropriate federal monitoring of EtO under the law—and the proper engagement of affected communities in addressing the issue.”

The OIG report outlines how the Trump Administration’s “then-senior leader in the Office of Air and Radiation, who was a political appointee, instructed Region 5 to not conduct inspections at ethylene oxide-emitting facilities unless invited by the state to conduct a joint inspection,” and that the EPA “did not conduct public meetings with residents either near the Medline facility in Waukegan, Illinois, or the Vantage facility in Gurnee, Illinois.”

* Another one…

Stop Sterigenics, an organization dedicated to protecting public health through exposing and educating the public of the dangers of ethylene oxide (EtO), is calling for the US EPA to take immediate steps to mitigate the harm caused by EtO and the misconduct in which their predecessors engaged. The US EPA prevented the notification to communities nationwide about the cancer risk they face due to EtO exposure. Stop Sterigenics demands that, as outlined below, the US EPA immediately notify affected communities nationwide, conduct inspections, and create risk assessments based on perimeter testing at all facilities known to emit EtO.

Stop Sterigenics and the community around Willowbrook, IL was thrust back into the news last week after the US EPA Office of Inspector General released a report finding that Trump appointees knowingly and willfully hid the truth about the dangers of EtO. Career EPA employees have characterized the situation as another “Flint-level” crisis. Political appointees instructed US EPA employees not to conduct testing or inspections, to remove critical information from public view, and prohibited the notification of communities about their risks.

Ethylene oxide, which is slightly heavier than air, can persist in the air for weeks; is constantly emitted by facilities that use it for 24/7 operations; can be more concentrated indoors and at lower levels of buildings; and is particularly dangerous for children. The area around Willowbrook, IL, a suburban community about 20 miles from downtown Chicago, has suffered a staggeringly high rate of cancer which has been connected to the release of tens of thousands of pounds of EtO by Sterigenics, a sterilization facility located in a residential community, for over thirty years.

“Communities across America are breathing in this dangerous chemical and people are getting sick and dying. It is clear that the US EPA was protecting the profits of these companies while sacrificing our health. These officials need to be held accountable and trust must be regained by taking the steps necessary to protect public health,” said Gabriela Tejeda, a resident whose home is less than half of a mile away from the former Willowbrook Sterigenics facility.

More here.

…Adding… US Sen. Tammy Duckworth…

“After several Congressional requests from myself, Senator Durbin, Senator Carper, Representative Richmond and Representative Foster, the EPA Office of Inspector General revealed what we unfortunately expected: the Trump Administration chose corporate profits over the safety of our communities. They refused to take a public health crisis seriously and put Illinoisans at risk when they knew the impact ethylene oxide’s carcinogenic emissions could have on communities like Willowbrook and Waukegan.

“Since 2018 I’ve called for an investigation into the wrongdoing by Trump’s EPA, and I’m glad these communities finally have the answers they deserve, but the fact remains that they should never have had to experience this. It’s unacceptable that civil servants were instructed by senior Trump political appointees to not conduct inspections of toxic emissions, delay public notifications of dangerous levels of emissions and refuse to hold public meetings with residents impacted by this harmful cancer-causing chemical.

“EPA is supposed to ensure that everyone has access to accurate information to effectively manage health and environmental risks, and that communities have the right to participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives and livelihoods. Trump’s EPA failed that mission and our state. I will continue to work with EPA, Region 5 and Illinois to ensure that protocols are in place so that this abuse of power never happens again.”