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| 1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois asserts | ||||||
| 3 | that the public policy of the State and the
duty of each person | ||||||
| 4 | is to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the | ||||||
| 5 | benefit of this and
future generations; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, The General Assembly shall provide by law for the | ||||||
| 7 | implementation and
enforcement of this public policy; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Ethylene oxide is a known carcinogen and its | ||||||
| 9 | discharge and emission into the atmosphere
in high | ||||||
| 10 | concentrations constitutes a threat to public health and | ||||||
| 11 | safety; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and | ||||||
| 13 | Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
are charged with the | ||||||
| 14 | enforcement of our federal and State environmental laws and | ||||||
| 15 | standards to
ensure pollutants or discharges from Illinois | ||||||
| 16 | businesses do not put the health and welfare of Illinois
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| 17 | residents and workers in jeopardy; and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | ||||||
| 19 | completed multiple air sampling and tests
around the | ||||||
| 20 | Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook that discovered heightened | ||||||
| 21 | levels of ethylene
oxide in the air around the facility; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Following the results of those tests, the Illinois | ||||||
| 2 | Environmental Protection Agency issued a
seal order preventing | ||||||
| 3 | the use of ethylene oxide by a facility in Willowbrook on | ||||||
| 4 | February 15,
2019; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Lake County has two facilities currently | ||||||
| 6 | permitted to emit and discharge ethylene
oxide; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, No state or federal agency has yet to conduct | ||||||
| 8 | ambient air quality or sampling tests around
the Lake County | ||||||
| 9 | facilities that emit and discharge ethylene oxide; therefore, | ||||||
| 10 | be it
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| 11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 12 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
| 13 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the U.S. Environmental | ||||||
| 14 | Protection Agency to consider the serious concerns of residents | ||||||
| 15 | of Lake County regarding the recent ethylene oxide emissions | ||||||
| 16 | and the subsequent environmental and public health threat posed | ||||||
| 17 | to the people of Illinois; and be it further | ||||||
| 18 | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Environmental Protection | ||||||
| 19 | Agency to conduct ambient air monitoring
and testing in and | ||||||
| 20 | around the two known facilities emitting or discharging | ||||||
| 21 | ethylene oxide in Lake County; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Environmental | ||||||
| 2 | Protection Agency to take whatever actions possible to
assist | ||||||
| 3 | in the ambient air monitoring and protection of the public in | ||||||
| 4 | regards to the environmental and
health risks posed by ethylene | ||||||
| 5 | oxide emissions in Lake County.
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