Burr Ridge Opposes Trump On Sterigenics-Type Pollution

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge trustees are likely to take the Trump administration to task on its approach to Sterigenics-type pollution.

Last year, the federal government started working toward easing regulations for pollutants such as ethylene oxide.

The Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook was accused of emitting the pollutant for years before closing under pressure seven years ago.

Under the Biden administration, regulations of ethylene oxide were more restrictive, according to a Burr Ridge memo last week.

But the Trump administration has sought to deregulate or significantly increase the exceptions for ethylene oxide users without appropriate capture technology, the village said.

On Monday, the Burr Ridge Village Board plans to vote on a resolution on ethylene oxide. The village says the document would serve as its comment on proposed federal rules on ethylene oxide.

The village said ethylene oxide is a proven cancer-causing pollutant. More than 14 million people live within 5 miles of an ethylene oxide-emitting facility in the United States, according to the resolution.

In 2018 and 2019, Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, Darien and Hinsdale worked to shut down Sterigenics.

They and other entities successfully lobbied for tougher state regulations, requiring plants to capture all such emissions.

"(T)he rollbacks and deregulation of the use of (ethylene oxide) as described by the Trump Administration would be devastating to public health," the resolution says.

At the Hinsdale Village Board's meeting Tuesday, Village President Greg Hart plans to discuss such a resolution.

In 2023, Sotero Health Co., Sterigenics' parent company, announced it was paying out $408 million for more than 870 cases related to the pollutant. But it denied liability and said the settlement should not be seen as an admission.

A year earlier, a Willowbrook woman who lived less than a half mile away from the medical sterilization plant for more than 30 years was awarded $363 million by a Cook County jury. The jury determined Sterigenics was liable for the woman developing breast cancer.

The woman, Sue Kamuda, was the first of hundreds of people to sue the firm.