* The debate begins at 6 on ABC 7 Chicago. Click here for live video if you need it. Here’s our usual ScribbleLive thingy. I’ll add candidate press releases, other react, etc. to it as we go along…
Democratic Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has opened a criminal probe into how Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration handled deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks at the state-run Quincy veterans’ home, law-enforcement sources confirmed exclusively to WBEZ on Wednesday.
Madigan’s office contacted Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha to say it had plans to present a case to a criminal grand jury empaneled in the west-central Illinois community where the Illinois Veterans’ Home is based, the sources said.
Who within Rauner’s orbit Madigan may be targeting and what criminal laws may be at issue are unclear, but a spokeswoman for the four-term attorney general who is retiring in January said her office’s probe has been ongoing.
“We are investigating whether any laws were violated in the response to the risks of and outbreak of Legionella at the Quincy veterans’ home, where many people died,” Madigan spokeswoman Maura Possley said in a statement.
“There needs to be an investigation to determine if laws were violated and whether residents of the home, their families, veterans’ home staff, and the public were informed in a timely and appropriate manner,” she said.
* From earlier today…
A new report from WBEZ confirms Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Administration withheld information that could have saved lives at the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy, and State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) is calling for a criminal inquiry.
“This report confirms that the governor’s office deliberately delayed notifying families and the public of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak,” Cullerton said. “This goes beyond negligence. This is willful endangerment of a vulnerable population that it is our sacred duty to protect. This is criminal neglect.”
Legionnaires’ disease claimed the lives of 14 veterans or their spouses at the Quincy home and sickened nearly 70 residents and staff. Now, state records show that Rauner’s administration waited weeks – and in some cases months – in 2016 and 2017 to publicly acknowledge additional cases of Legionnaires’ disease.
“Gov. Bruce Rauner prioritized political games over the lives of our U.S. service men and women and staff at the state-run veterans’ home,” Cullerton said.
Cullerton is urging the Illinois Attorney General’s office to consider criminal charges against Gov. Rauner and any other officials directly involved in the decisions to conceal the truth.
“If residents, loved ones and staff had all of the facts better decisions could have been made that would have saved lives,” Cullerton said. “The governor and his administration need to be held accountable.”
There is precedent for such charges. In Michigan, Attorney General Bill Schuette brought charges against high-ranking state and former city of Flint health officials related to the Flint drinking water crisis. Cullerton believes similar charges should be considered in Illinois.
“We need to find out how many more deaths were caused by exposure to Legionnaires’ disease at the veterans home. We need a larger investigation to further examine their criminal negligence,” he said.
Cullerton served in the Army from 1990 to 1993 as an infantryman and has been a staunch advocate for Illinois’ veterans, especially those at the Quincy home.
“The state of Illinois has failed to give the veterans at the home the same basic dignity they put their lives on the line to protect for all of us,” Cullerton said. “There has to be some accountability for those that willfully endanger the heroes under our care to save political face.”
…Adding… You may recall not long ago when AG Madigan’s office was asked about investigating corruption stemming from an inspector general probe, her spokesperson said this…
But if we get that referral, we have to ask the permission of the appropriate State’s Attorney to use his or her grand jury - which means we have to ask permission to handle the case and if the State’s Attorney wants to take it or do it jointly with us, we do not have an option.
She’ll be presenting to a standing grand jury that will convene in late October. WBEZ quotes the Adams County State’s Attorney in its piece…
Farha, a Republican, said he would not be participating in any prosecution and that it would be lawyers from Madigan’s office appearing before a grand jury. […]
Asked if he believed election-year dynamics may be at play, Farha responded, “One could wonder.”
…Adding… Funny how all this is happening on the day of a debate that could’ve been dominated by Pritzker’s property tax problems…
“After four years of outbreaks, 14 deaths, and nearly 70 cases of Legionnaires’ at the Quincy Veterans’ Home, Bruce Rauner’s administration is now the subject of a criminal investigation into their fatal mismanagement and cover-up,” said JB Pritzker. “While Rauner’s own office tried to keep the Legionnaires’ crisis under wraps — delaying notification to the public and selectively releasing state records to the media — Veterans, their spouses, and staff at the home continued to get sick and die on this failed governor’s watch. Their families deserve justice, and Bruce Rauner must be held accountable.”
The Pritzker campaign has been throwing everything it has at Rauner this week to try and move tonight’s debate toward anywhere but the property tax stuff. It’s a good plan. I’m just sayin…
…Adding… WCIA…
AG Madigan's office immediately confirms this criminal investigation w/ me via phone. In contrast, after a day of un-returned phone calls they're still reluctant to comment on allegations of criminal tax fraud facing J.B. Pritzker-"It's unclear if that's w/in our jurisdiction." https://t.co/D3hfdqlray
Madigan opens criminal probe looking for a crime. What crime? They don’t know & can’t say. Earlier today, we asked if they would look into Cook County IG’s report alleging @JBPritzker committed a “scheme to defraud.” They said probably not because he was a private citizen. https://t.co/smSu6s1ekv
“During her 16 years in office, Attorney General Lisa Madigan has done absolutely nothing to address the corruption from Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois Democrats that has plagued our state for decades. But now that an independent investigation has found her party’s candidate for governor to be a tax fraud, Madigan has launched a clearly partisan investigation into a serious public health crisis that Governor Rauner took swift action on and has been transparent with the General Assembly and the media. This is nothing more than the politicization of the devastating deaths of Illinois veterans to distract from JB Pritzker’s scheme to defraud Illinois taxpayers hours before a debate.” - Illinois Republican Party Executive Director Travis Sterling
Newly disclosed records from the office of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner document a pattern by the state of slow-walking and soft-pedaling bad news about deadly outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease at a state-run home for war veterans in downstate Quincy.
That pattern began with Rauner’s office early on putting a kibosh on informing the public about a 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that killed a dozen residents at the veterans’ home, state records show.
July 24: Earliest known case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy, according to a report issued later by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
August 21: Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Erica Jeffries later claims that on this date, her department “shut down the water, we removed aerators from all the showers, we shut down our fountains, we started issuing bottled water” because of the outbreak.
August 21: Illinois Veterans’ Home resident Melvin Tucker develops a fever. He is given Tylenol.
August 23: Illinois Department of Public Health notifies CDC of “five laboratory-confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease among residents and staff.”
August 24: Adams County Health Department Director of Clinical and Environmental Services Shay Drummond claims this is the date when “environmental control and mediation” actually starts
August 24: In an email, a state Veterans’ Affairs spokesman alerted the governor’s press staff about the Legionnaires’ test results, saying, “We have a situation at the Quincy home.” The spokesman went on to say he did not intend to publicize details of the test results that day unless “directed or in the case of wide media interest.”
August 25: Rauner does Springfield media event with Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries at Springfield airport.
Aug. 25: Rauner’s press secretary at the time, Lindsay Walters, directed press aides in the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Illinois Department of Public Health not to issue a public statement about the growing Legionnaires’ threat at the home, documents show. “I do not think we need to issue a statement to the media. Let’s hold and see if we receive any reporter inquiries,” she said.
Aug. 26: There are now 28 Legionnaires’ disease onsets, the CDC reports later.
August 26: Three days after CDC was first notified of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, and 2-4 days after remediation efforts began, Gerald Kuhn, 90, is given Tylenol for a fever that reaches 104 degrees. Kuhn asks to go to the hospital and tests positive there for Legionella.
August 26: Last day Dolores French is seen alive. Her military veteran husband lives in another section of the complex.
August 27: “The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced eight confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease in residents at the Illinois Veterans’ Home - Quincy. There have been no known deaths related to this outbreak.”
August 27: After six days with a fever, Melvin Tucker is still not on any kind of antibiotic and hasn’t yet been tested for Legionnaires’, despite the CDC being notified four days earlier of an outbreak and the state announcing eight confirmed cases that same day.
August 28: “Two residents of an Illinois veterans home have died of Legionnaires’ disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday…. [both] had underlying medical conditions. Both were among 23 residents of the facility who had earlier been diagnosed with the disease.”
August 29: Dolores French is found dead and her body was decomposed. Her only underlying medical condition was deafness.
* OK, let’s get to more new stuff. Fast-forward to 2016, when the veterans home was hit yet again with another outbreak of five Legionnaires’ cases…
Spring/Summer: Between April and June 2016, testing within the home’s water system found the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ between 42 percent and 90 percent of the time, state records show.
September: [Quincy home administrator Troy Culbertson] said no one is hiding information. He explained that we have a big responsibility. What we say and how we say it is very important. There is a responsibility to public safety, to economic development in the Quincy area and tourism.
Cases emerged in March, May and September of [2017], but there was no public acknowledgement of those cases by the state until WBEZ pressed the question last December.
* And then in October of 2017 the home was hit by two more cases, and one was fatal…
No written press release was issued about the two October cases, though a draft press release circulated to the Adams County Health Department alluded to the undisclosed cases earlier in the year, records show. That release never was made public.
Instead, the state initially called media outlets only in Quincy to report just the two October cases. That outreach didn’t happen until about four days after the second positive case that month, records show.
*** UPDATE *** The Pritzker campaign responded last night and I just saw it now…
“We’ve long known that Bruce Rauner fatally mismanaged the Quincy Veterans’ Home, but now we’re presented with the shameful truth that the governor’s office was directly involved in the cover-up that cost Veterans their lives,” said JB Pritzker. “Instead of informing Veterans, their families, and the dedicated staff providing critical care, Rauner’s office kept quiet and hoped no one would ask questions about the deadly bacteria. Lives were at stake, but this failed governor was more worried about bad press coverage than keeping our nation’s heroes healthy and safe. This unconscionable negligence cannot be tolerated, especially at the highest levels of government. Bruce Rauner failed our Veterans, and he must be held accountable.”
* The JB Pritzker campaign just sent out a statement about Pat Brady’s press conference, but the e-mail also included a background comment saying the candidate is in the process of repaying the $330,000 in property tax refunds he received from Cook County.
Anyway, to the statement…
“This is a politically leaked report without new information. Instead of standing outside of JB Pritzker’s home, Pat Brady should be calling for an investigation into Sterigenics, a company Bruce Rauner owned that is emitting high levels of cancer-causing air pollution that is poisoning Illinois families. It’s time for Rauner to release all relevant Sterigenics records so that we can provide answers to the thousands of families who have been exposed to this poison.”
*** UPDATE *** Rauner campaign…
“A bank robber who gives the money back is still a bank robber. Pritzker’s offer to pay back the money he conned out of Illinois taxpayers is nothing less than an admission of guilt that he committed fraud.” -Will Allison, Rauner Campaign Communications Director
We are requesting your investigation into unlawful use of public property in a political campaign, specifically the use of a laptop computer and a desktop computer, both owned by McLean County, in the campaign to reelect Kathy Michael as McLean County Clerk. Additionally, within 72 hours of a 7/12/18 FOIA request for Michael’s laptop browser history, the device sustained massive water damage. This raises the question of whether an attempt was made to destroy evidence of prohibited political activity on a county-owned laptop.
What in the actual heck? A buddy just said, “It’s like a Coen Brothers movie or something.”
The laptop data was eventually recovered. The county paid an outside company $654 in August for data recovery on the computer, county records show. […]
Michael defended herself pre-emptively in a statement late Wednesday, before Lindenbaum’s ethics complaint became public. Michael didn’t address the specific allegations related to internet browsing and did not return requests for comment Thursday. She said local Republicans needed to “stand together to stop this radical, socialist agenda from taking over our county in their efforts to try to smear not only me, but others who have worked for McLean County for all the right reasons.”
McLean County Clerk Michael is a Republican running against Democrat Nikita Richards, an African-American.
* Among other things, the complainants say Michael’s government computer browser histories show this…
* Searching how and where to buy a car wrap—like a vehicular billboard—after viewing images of Richards’ vehicle wrap.
* Viewing Facebook pages for Richards, Democrats, and Republicans.
* Visiting political yard signs on VictoryStore.com.
* Communicating about political events and fundraisers in McLean County.
Yeah, but it’s the socialists’ fault. You can look at her browser history here and here.
McLean County’s Ethics Commission deliberated for two-and-a-half hours on Monday before deciding to send a complaint against County Clerk Kathy Michael to the county state’s attorney for review. […]
[McLean County Director of Elections Denise Cesario] explained Michael left her laptop outside on her deck while she was working. Michael went inside to do some laundry when a rainstorm hit, damaging the computer, Cesario said.
“There’s no way she tried to destroy her laptop,” Cesario told the commission. “It makes sense that she could have just buried it.”
…Adding… Somebody might want to amend the ethics complaint…
I don’t think anyone monitors her county Twitter acct because there are political tweets that have been up almost 2 months which I have tagged local reporters on more than once. pic.twitter.com/rA8agldhKM
* Lawsuit alleging Tinley Park campaign defamation gets tossed by judge: In delivering a sharp rebuke to Stephen Eberhardt, a Tinley Park attorney who filed the lawsuit last November, Judge John Ehrlich referred to it as a “flimsy complaint” and reprimanded him, suggesting he was slipshod in investigating whether his claims were supported by law before filing the lawsuit.
With just 35 days until Election Day and early voting underway, Lauren Underwood has unveiled her second campaign commercial of the general election. The ad, “It’s On”, tells the story of how the campaign came to be––with a broken healthcare promise from her Republican opponent in the IL-14 congressional race.
“He stood in front of us and promised to protect healthcare coverage for more than 300,000 people in our community with pre-existing conditions. Just a few weeks later, he cast a vote that would have jeopardized coverage for the people who need it most,” Underwood said. “When my congressman made that promise, I believed him. I believed him because it was personal. I’m a nurse who has taken care of patients with chronic illnesses and I have a pre-existing heart condition myself. I’m running for Congress because this community deserves better.”
The ad, released after Underwood closed the final FEC filing quarter of the general election with a community fundraiser in her hometown of Naperville, represents a significant investment for the campaign. The commercial will run on broadcast and cable.
Underwood: “I have a heart condition that’s considered a pre-existing condition. At my congressman’s one and only public event of 2017, he said he was only going to support a version of Obamacare repeal that let people with pre-existing conditions keep their healthcare coverage.”
Hultgren: “Any type of replacement has to have pre-existing conditions.”
Underwood: “That’s what he said. He lied about taking away my healthcare coverage. Randy Hultgren voted against people like me with pre-existing conditions. And I decided, you know what, ‘it’s on, I’m running.’ I’m Lauren Underwood and I approve this message.”
Today Sean Casten, Illinois 6th Congressional District Candidate, announced that his campaign had raised over $2.6 million in the third quarter.
“These numbers confirm what we already knew,” said Casten “People are ready for a change in Illinois’ Sixth District, and the momentum is on our side. I’m humbled by the outpouring of support I’ve seen throughout the campaign from our thousands of volunteers and from the over 79,000 individuals who have contributed to our campaign.”
Sean Casten is running to unseat incumbent Peter Roskam whose campaign is being bankrolled by special interests like the billionaire Koch brothers and Paul Ryan’s allies at the Congressional Leadership Fund.
So far in the general election, Roskam and his allies have spent millions of dollars on mailings, TV and digital ads. Yet, it’s obvious it’s not working as recently Inside Elections moved the race to “Tilt Dem” just as Politico becomes the fifth key political prognosticator to join Cook Political Report, Election Projection, and Larry Sabato all to list this race a toss-up. The Casten campaign poll, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, and the New York Times latest public polling confirms that momentum.
Casten had ended Q2 with $646,750 in his campaign coffers. He faces Republican incumbent Peter Roskam, who ended the second quarter with $2.3 million on hand, according to campaign finance reports.
* The Illinois Economic Freedom Alliance, which has already spent big bucks to help Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign, just filed a $2 million A-1 from the Illinois Manufacturers Association. It also filed an independent expenditure report of $1,528,455 for “advertising” opposing Sen. Sam McCann.
Stay tuned.
*** UPDATE 1 *** And here they are. The quality isn’t the best because they were sent to me via text message. They’re throwing the kitchen sink at him in this one…
* Script…
Shady Sam McCann.
McCann claimed to serve in the Marine Corps, but the Marines have no record he ever served. Calls himself conservative, but voted with Mike Madigan to raise taxes $3 billion. Got caught using his campaign account as Sam’s Slush Fund. Didn’t even pay his own bills, dodging nearly $200,000 in taxes and taken to court over bad credit card debt.
One of these is a plant. The other a Mike Madigan plant.
Phony Sam McCann is no conservative. McCann repeatedly sided with Madigan and big unions to oppose Gov. Rauner’s conservative reforms. Voted with Madigan to raise our taxes $3 billion. But Shadey Sam got caught dodging nearly $200,000 in his own taxes.
A vote for McCann is a vote to keep the Madigan machine in control. And Illinois can’t afford that.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sam McCann…
These false and cowardly attack ads are just another example of Bruce Rauner’s desperation as his support evaporates across Illinois. We have seen this tired old move time and time again– when Rauner is in a corner, he shouts “Madigan!” He calls anyone who defies him a Madigan Plant, including Jeanne Ives, who nearly defeated Rauner in the Primary.
The fact is I never claimed to be in the Marines. After sustaining a severe injury, my contract with the Marines was canceled before I had a chance to leave for boot camp.
The fact is I have never voted to raise taxes.
The fact is that like many Illinoisans, my family and business faced hard times due the crippling of the economy by hedge fund managers like Bruce Rauner.
The fact is that I use my campaign account to assist in my official duties as Senator traveling one of Illinois’s largest districts at no cost to the taxpayer.
The fact is that I stand with blue-collar middle class working families when wealthy elites push laws to take food off their tables and money out of their pockets.
I stand by my conservative record. Rauner is a failed Governor and a liar. He has to resort to the politics of personal destruction to hide the fact he is a pro-choice RINO who spits in the face of conservative-minded Illinoisans every chance he gets.”
That’s all well and good, but if the push-back isn’t in TV ads, nobody but us will see it.
* Democrats were asked during a Springfield candidates’ forum last night if they would vote to reelect Michael Madigan as House Speaker…
State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, said she was “totally focused on (her) own election” and that she would have to “look and see what (her) choices are.”
Dillon Clark, the Democratic challenger in the 95th District, said he would “fight for the people in (his) district” and against Bruce Rauner.
And according to [99th House District Democratic candidate Marc Bell], “we really don’t know who’s going to run.”
State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, lit into the Democrats on stage for not directly answering the question.
“Every Democrat on this stage like to hem and haw and say they only want to represent their district,” said Bourne, who represents the 95th. “We know who’s running. Mike Madigan has said he’s running. Jim Durkin is running,” Bourne said. “If they’re not willing to nominate someone else for speaker, then the choice is clear. This isn’t a 90-second answer, this is a two-second answer. Are you voting for Madigan or not? Our constituents deserve to know that.”
Clark had the only “right” answer to this question. Everyone presumes Madigan is running again. So, if you’re gonna dodge the question, at least try to turn it on the other party.
How much longer should he remain Speaker, a role he’s held – except for two years – since 1983?
“You’d have to ask him that question.”
* 50th House District Democratic candidate James Leslie, who is up against GOP Rep. Keith Wheeler…
Leslie, 41, an Aurora Democrat and firefighter/paramedic, says it’s laughable to suggest Madigan wields that much power over other lawmakers.
“You’re telling me all of those senators and representatives, and governors were just innocent bystanders? Or is it people that haven’t accomplished anything are looking to blame someone?” he said.
Leslie said he would vote for Madigan to continue on as speaker if there is no other, better candidate. He doesn’t support term limits for Madigan or House leaders.
“Term limits for legislative leaders makes me nervous because, in that scenario, it’s the lobbyists who become the knowledge brokers and they don’t face election,” he said.
* All very predictable. Trot out the former state party chairman who is also a former federal prosecutor at a press conference in front of JB Pritzker’s empty mansion next door to his home with toilets in tow and a mention of Rod Blagojevich…
.@pat_brady says sentencing guidelines for these types of alleged crimes (mail fraud, perjury) is “48 months.” Says “this is how the Blagojevich stuff started.”
Last June, J.B. Pritzker’s campaign for Illinois governor was rocked by an investigative report from the Chicago Sun-Times that detailed how the billionaire removed toilets at his second Gold-Coast Chicago mansion in order to claim the property uninhabitable and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax refunds and breaks.
Now, the Cook County Inspector General is investigating the scandal and calling the Pritzkers’ efforts to dodge taxes a “scheme to defraud” taxpayers, and is recommending Cook County seek action to recover over $330,000 from the Pritzkers. Specifically, the IG alleges that Cook County was “the victim of sworn affidavits containing false representations” from the Pritzkers. These affidavits were “part of a scheme for obtaining money by means of false representations.”
In fact, the report found that the Pritzkers had the mansion’s toilets removed just 10 days prior to the inspection, and “lined up” the toilets against the wall.
J.B. Pritzker is trying to force an “immediate increase” in taxes on hardworking Illinois families, but won’t pay his own fair share by defrauding taxpayers. Pritzker should immediately apologize for his efforts to defraud taxpayers and return the money.
* Even Jim Dodge is getting into the act…
Last night, news broke in the Chicago Sun Times that, “Cook County’s chief watchdog has concluded that more than $330,000 in property tax breaks and refunds that Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker received on one of his Gold Coast mansions — in part by removing toilets — constituted a “scheme to defraud.”
Since the news broke, Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs, whose campaign has received sizeable donations from the billionaire Pritzker, has failed to comment publicly on the report.
In response, Jim Dodge, the Republican nominee for Treasurer issued the following statement:
“Over and over again Treasurer Frerichs has failed to show any political courage. He failed to speak up about Madigan and the #MeToo issues, failed to speak out about faulty assumptions in the budget before it passed and now he fails to speak out about Pritzker’s scheme to defraud taxpayers.
“At every juncture silent Mike puts political calculations above doing what is right.
“We need a Treasurer who will speak up and tell the truth, not just when its politically advantageous to do so. I will be that kind of Treasurer.”
…Adding… Oops. I missed this one from the ILGOP…
“This report makes it increasingly clear: JB Pritzker is a hypocrite and a fraud. He’s campaigning on a massive tax hike, calling on everyone to pay their ‘fair share,’ yet he devised a corrupt ’scheme to defraud’ Illinois taxpayers. The Inspector General’s report makes it clear that Pritzker ripped toilets out of his mansion just before tax assessors visited so he could claim it as uninhabitable, and reap a tax break worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A billionaire willing to cheat Illinois taxpayers to save himself some extra cash clearly lacks the integrity to be governor.” - Illinois Republican Party Executive Director Travis Sterling
…Adding… Sam McCann’s not running as a Republican, but I’m putting his statement here anyway…
The same J.B. Pritzker who wants to raise taxes and make the wealthy pay their share got caught with his hypocritical hand in the cookie jar. Illinois’ history of corrupt governors is the laughing stock of the nation, and the last thing we need is another punchline governor connected with a “scheme to defraud” the system that the rest of us are forced to live by.
There are two tax systems in Illinois – the one that J.B. Pritzker and his billionaire buddies abuse, and the one by which ordinary Illinoisans like you and me pay for their tax breaks. If JB wants to be seen as anything other than just another billionaire, he should stop making excuses, own up to what he did, and pay Illinois back the $330,000 in taxes that he dodged.
Illinoisans deserve a governor who understands the world that normal working families live in and will work to protect the tax system from cheaters who laugh all the way to the bank.
* The US Environmental Protection Agency recently declared it will begin air testing around the hugely controversial Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook. As we’ve discussed before, area residents are up in arms about pollution from the plant. Gov. Rauner, whose former firm still owns a chunk of the company, has said that the plant is not a public health crisis. But Willowbrook is represented by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and he is hot as heck over this.
I received this statement today from the governor’s office…
Out of an abundance of caution, we believe Sterigenics should pause operations until the USEPA can provide more clarity about the potential threat, if there is any.
* That comment was attached to this Illinois EPA press release…
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Alec Messina has referred an enforcement action to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office against Sterigenics US, LLC (Sterigenics) based on the findings of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in its Letter Health Consultation and on information provided by U.S. EPA. The Agency is seeking an order enjoining Sterigenics from continuing operations that result in any emissions of ethylene oxide either until a complete review of additional modeling and risk assessment is completed by U.S. EPA or until U.S. EPA otherwise assures the community that resumed operations would not present an elevated health risk.
Sterigenics is a commercial sterilizer that primarily uses ethylene oxide (EtO) to sterilize medical equipment. It operates in two buildings at 7775 Quincy Street and 830 Midway in Willowbrook.
As part of the process for assessing new cancer risk assumptions nationwide, U.S. EPA chose to evaluate the implications of the recently updated Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) at the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook. U.S. EPA provided that data to ATSDR, and ATSDR concluded, in an August 21, 2018 report, that “if measured and modeled data represent typical EtO ambient concentrations in the air, an elevated cancer risk exists for residents and off-site workers in the Willowbrook community surrounding the Sterigenics facility.”
On September 28, 2018, Illinois officials and local community representatives met with U.S. EPA to discuss the status of U.S. EPA’s ongoing evaluation and testing at Sterigenics. While progress has been made, it is evident that additional weeks or months will pass before U.S. EPA will be in a position to provide an updated risk assessment and propose any resulting changes to relevant regulations. The lack of certainty continues to raise public concern. In addition, the September 28 meeting increased that concern due to information discussed. In particular, the August 21 ATSDR report referenced a “30-fold increase in cancer potency,” but at the September 28 meeting, U.S. EPA referenced a 60-fold increase.
In the referral, the Illinois EPA cited the findings of the ATSDR Letter Health Consultation and information provided at the September 28 meeting with U.S. EPA. In addition to the Agency requesting an order enjoining Sterigenics from continuing operations, the Agency requests , as an alternative, the Attorney General’s Office pursue a violation of Section 9(a) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. Illinois EPA also requests Sterigenics pursue EtO emission limits for the Willowbrook facility that would be memorialized in an amended permit.
Shutting down the Willowbrook facility — and all the others in Illinois that emit any EO — will create serious risk for hospitals and medical device manufacturers that depend on EO all in the name of safety for the healthcare industry. This action by Illinois is not justified by the facts and the EPA has communicated directly to the Governor that Sterigenics Willowbrook does not present an imminent threat to public health. We urge reconsideration of the Governor’s ill- considered action, which is based on a misuse of ATSDR data, which the ATSDR has already publically acknowledged.
