AG's office seeks review of landfill permit ruling

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is appealing a state Pollution Control Board order that permits a chemical waste landfill to operate on a site located above a major source of drinking water in DeWitt County.

In September, the board dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition that includes several area communities that claim the owners of Clinton Landfill failed to complete all of the necessary steps before moving ahead with plans to store poly-chlorinated biphenyl waste at the landfill.

Madigan announced Thursday she filed a petition seeking administrative review from the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield.

Her office contends Pollution Control Board erred in deciding not to review the case.

“The landfill sits atop an aquifer that is the source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Central Illinoisans,” said Madigan. “We’re asking the court to intervene in the interest of their health and safety.”

Area residents and local officials filed a complaint with the Pollution Control Board, citing the lack of local approval of the company’s modified plans for the site. Madigan intervened in the case in 2012; the local governments also have filed a petition for review with the appellate court.

Peoria Landfill’s application to store PCBs at the site is awaiting final approval from the U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency.