ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

CLERK’S

OFFICE

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STATE OF

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~O~IutIon

Control

BQard

February 6,

2004

Illinois Pollution Control Board

Chairman J. Philip Novak

100 W.

Randolph St.

Ste.

11-500

Chicago,IL

60601

Dear Chairman Novak:

I am writing this

letter on behalfofmy constituents Ms.

Leona Childress and her son William McCoy.

I

ask that this letter be an attachment to her case file No.

PCB-04-106.

The complaint

filed against Ms.

Childress and her son William McCoy

is for cost

recovery to remove

used and waste tires on a site owned by them. Ms.

Childress lives in

Pembroke Township, a very poor,

rural area ofKankakee County. The property where the dumping was going on

is not where she lives. The

owner ofthe adjoining lot was illegally dumping the tires and eventually the tire heap sprawled onto

Ms.

Childress’ lot.

Chairman Novak, I am enclosing infOrmation for your review on “Team Illinois” because I believe this

is

important information. In late July 2004, the

JEPA provided assistance to Pembroke to help remove more

than 60,000 waste tires.

At this kick-offevent 1,800 tires were collected.

I understand that this particular situation

with used tires started back in

1997 with Ms. Childress property.

But, as you can

see the State ofIllinois

recognized this was not an isolated problem in Pembroke but a

community wide one. Unfortunately, for Ms.

Childress “Team Illinois” and their efforts came after the

clean up of Ms. Childerss property by the JEPA.

The amount billed to Ms.

Childress and her

son William

McCoy

is $27,000.

It is important for you to know that Ms. Childress

is 78 years old

and her income is

about $700 a month.

KANKAKEE DISTRICT OFFICE:

135 S. SCHUYLER AVENUE

KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS 60901

815/939-

1983

815/939-0081 FAX

LISA M. DUGAN

STATE REPRESENTATIVE

79TH

DISTRICT

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In closing, as the PCB board

case proceeds, I ask that all

the above information be taken into account for

my

constituents. For the goal of “Team Illinois” is to

help our poverty-stricken communities and improve

the

quality of life for those li~ingin Pembroke Township.

Thank you

in advance for your consideration ofmy request.

Very cordially yours,

~

Lisa M. Dugan

State

Representative

79th

District

enciosures

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EP

-

Summer 2003

-

TEPA Joins”Team Illinois”

Kickoff Efforts

Page

1 of2

~‘

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CA

Rod

R.

Blagoj~

IEPA

Joins

“Team

Illinois”

Kickoff

Efforts

New

approach

targets poverty-stricken small communities

F

Director Renee Cipriano, Gov. Rod

R.

Blagojevich, and

Rev. Jesse Jackson were among

those

kicking

off

‘Team Illinois” at Hopkins Park in Kankakee County late in July.

Larger image

(JPG

84K file)

Guides for

safe tire storage,

disposal

The IEPA suggests:

•

Don’t leave tires outside;

keep them in

a

building. If tires must

be stored

outdoors, cover them

with

a tarp,

plywood

or other covering to

keep out

rainwater.

•

Dispose of used tires

at

an

Illinois

EPA

registered used tire

processing

facility.

•

Report discarded tires to the Illinois

EPA

Used Tire Unit by

calling

1-888-372-1996.

•

If mosquito

eggs or larvae are found

in tires at

any location, report to

Illinois

EPA’s

Used Tire

Unit.

•

If your business accepts or stores used tires, protect your employees

and

customers from

exposure

-

properly manage the tires.

In

late July, Gay.

Rod

R.

Blagojevich’s

‘Team

Illinois”

kicked

off its

new

initiative to

provide assistance

for poverty-stricken small communities with

a

festival

in

Hopkins

Park,

in

Kankakee County.

As

part of the Team,

the

IEPA has

been working

with other

state agencies to provide

assistance to

depressed

areas of Illinois.

Part of the

Agency’s

role at Hopkins

Park,

a

small community in

Pembroke Township,

was to

remove

more than

60,000 waste tires from three

large and

numerous smaller dumps in

Pembroke

Township.

A

mobile tire

shredder cut the discarded tires into

large pieces for transportation

to

a

processing

facility.

Ultimately, the

shredded tires are burned for fuel.

In

addition to

the

Pembroke Township

area, Team

Illinois has targeted the

eastside of Aurora, the

Environmental

Progress

Summer

2003

http://www.epa.state.il.us/environmental-progress/v28/n4/team-illinois.html

2/6/2004

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EP

-

Summer 2003

-

IEPA Joins”Team Illinois” Kickoff Efforts

Page

2 of 2

cormmunity of Savanna

in

Carroll

County,

and three

communities

in Alexander County (Cairo, Tamms

and Thebes) for assistance. The goal of Team

Illinois

is to

link concerned

local

citizens with the

experience of state agencies to generate

a

fresh

perspective

on

what residents

need

in their

communities.

Tire dumping

longtime Pembroke problem

The presence

of illegal

tire

dumps

has become

a

serious environmental

health issue

in

Pembroke

Township,

one of the

worst areas in the state for tire dumping.

The dumps not only

lead to

unlawful

disposal

of other trash,

but

are

a

recognized breeding ground for mosquitoes since they collect dead

leaves

and retain

rainfall

in stagnant

pools that are ideal

breeding sites for several

species

of

mosquitoes.

Some

of these,

in turn, are carriers of serious

diseases that threaten

both

humans

and

animals.

The Illinois

EPA

is continuing

the tire cleanup

in

the

area and

expects eventually to

remove

more

than

650 tons of

scrap tires. At the kickoff event, the

agency hosted

a

public tire

collection for area

residents,

and collected

more than

1,800 tires.

The agency

is working with the

Illinois

Rural

Water Association

to

address

problems with

Hopkins

Park’s wastewater treatment facility.

The Agency participated

in

an

informational display during the three day Hopkins

Park event, providing

dissecting scopes that

allowed

attendees to

view

mosquito

larvae at 30 times their actual

size. The

Agency

handed out

information

on

the

health

hazards

resulting when tires are improperly disposed

of.

The Illinois

EPA’s

Environmental

Justice

Officer will continue to

work with

community

officials and

other

members of Team

Illinois to

improve

the quality of life in communities

such

as

Hopkins Park;

the

staff

of the

Used Tire Program

will

continue to

monitor the

area. It

is expected

that

surveillance

conducted

after the

leaves have fallen

will

reveal additional

tire dumps

requiring

removal.

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2/6/2004

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DHS

-

Team Illinois:

Pembroke Township

Page

1

of

1

Infrastructure Improvements:

State

agencies

combined

to address

some

of the most pressing

commUnity

needs:

“the

EPA shredded 60,000 abandoned

tires and

hauled

them away;

“installed

new computers

at the Technology Center and

the

Mayors

Office;

refurbished

Martin Luther

King

Park;

and

“spread gravel to

enhance six miles of roads and

added new

road

markers

and

signage.

The accomplishments of this

three-day effort are only

the

beginning.

Team

Illinois

is a

long-term

commitment to

the citizens of Pembroke

and

there

are multiple short-

and

long-term

projects

in

the

works for the

months to

come.

Illinois

Department of Human

Services

401

S. Clinton,

7th

Floor

Chicago,

IL

60607

Phone 312-793-1546

http :J/www.dhs.state.il.us/newTltest/Pembroke.htm

2/6/2004