By Eric Stock
SPRINGFIELD – A measure intended to stop the dumping of hazardous waste in any municipal landfill is headed to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk after it passed unanimously in the Illinois Senate on Thursday.
The measure would require any hazardous waste be tested for toxicity before it can be stored. The bill comes after a lengthy legal battle to prevent toxic waste from being dumped at the Clinton Landfill, a proposal that was eventually dropped.
State Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, sponsored the measure.
“Today we move one step closer in achieving our goal,” said Bennett. “However, we do recognize there may still be more work to do to ensure there is a concrete solution in protecting this valuable resource.”
State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said that waste could have endangered the Mahomet Aquifer, which supplies water to more than 700,000 people in Central Illinois.
“(The aquifer) has been under siege for the last several years by a plan to place some very dangerous substances and chemicals on top of it,” Rose said.
Rose argued on the Senate floor the proposal fills a hole in protection the federal government failed to recognize.
“What’s amazing to me, the federal law – for all the rules and regs – there’s absolutely no protection anywhere for dumping what are known as manufactured gas plant wastes in landfills,”
The Senate passed the bill in a 57-0 vote. It previously passed in the Illinois House.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
