Illinois’ Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that her office has reached an agreement with a Jersey County company for violating solid waste disposal laws after more than 30 trash dumpsters and seven loaded garbage trucks were found on the company’s premises.
Whiteway Sanitation, Inc., will pay a civil penalty of $4,500 to resolve numerous permit violations associated with trash and other debris stored at a garage facility in Jerseyville, Ill. Earlier this year the Attorney General’s office filed a complaint against Whiteway with the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
The dumpsters were observed last May by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency following several complaints. IEPA inspectors also observed a significant amount of waste scattered about the site including other trucks loaded with mattresses, furniture and scrap metal. Eleven plastic buckets of used oil, some of which had spilled, were located nearby. A company employee claimed that some of the waste in the dumpsters had been collected at a recent village cleanup in nearby Kane, Illinois, but the inoperable garbage trucks, loaded with household refuse, had been parked at the garage since the winter of 2003.
According to the IEPA, Whiteway has properly removed and disposed of the debris from the site. In addition, more than 45 tons of soil that was contaminated by the oil leaks has been removed and replaced with crushed rock. Assistant Attorney General Javonna Homan is handling the case for Madigan’s Environmental Bureau.