Michael Hawthorne – Page 20

Another round of air monitoring near the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook, shown Sept. 28, 2018, detected alarming levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide, but federal officials cautioned that they need more information before deciding if nearby communities are still at risk.

New EPA tests near Sterigenics show ethylene oxide cancer risks haven’t disappeared

May 23, 2019 at 1:33 a.m.

Another round of air monitoring near Sterigenics detected alarming levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide near the west suburban facility, but federal officials cautioned Friday that they need more information before...

The Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook on Sept. 28, 2018.

New documents reveal how Sterigenics, other companies were allowed to vent cancer-causing gas into communities

May 23, 2019 at 1:32 a.m.

After a series of explosions at medical sterilization plants during the late 1990s, federal safety officials urged Sterigenics International and other companies to overhaul the way they handled highly volatile...

The Waukegan Generating Station on Lake Michigan, owned by NRG Energy and shown Sept. 28, 2018, is ringed by two unlined ash ponds.

Toxic waste from 22 coal plants in Illinois puts drinking water for nearby communities at risk, reports show

May 23, 2019 at 1:31 a.m.

Toxic waste contaminates water sources near all but two of the coal-fired power plants in Illinois, according to a new analysis based largely on testing conducted by energy companies. The...

The S.H. Bell Co. is at 10218 S. Avenue O, in Chicago. About 20,000 people, including 1,730 children age 5 and younger, live within a mile of S.H. Bell.

While investigating manganese pollution in yards of Southeast Side residents, EPA finds even worse problem: lead

May 23, 2019 at 1:30 a.m.

Federal authorities discovered another toxic legacy while searching for contaminated yards near a Southeast Side company cited for violating clean air laws. Crews dispatched to the East Side neighborhood by...

Neighbors Jeff Myers, 69, left, and Steve Krajnik, 80, talk in Hammond's Robertsdale neighborhood on May 1, 2018. The former site of Federated Metals, a smelter that operated from 1937 to 1983, can be seen behind the house.

EPA cites company for high levels of toxic lead in air near already contaminated Hammond, Whiting neighborhoods

May 23, 2019 at 1:28 a.m.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency digs lead-contaminated soil out of dozens of yards in Hammond and Whiting, authorities recently discovered the northwest Indiana cities are being polluted again by...

Sen. Dick Durbin, shown at an election night party in Chicago, wrote in a letter to the EPA inspector general that withholding information on ethylene oxide gas emissions "is unacceptable."

Sen. Dick Durbin calls for expanded probe of Trump EPA after more cancer risks revealed in Lake County

May 23, 2019 at 1:28 a.m.

People living near two Lake County industrial facilities need to know why the Trump and Rauner administrations failed to inform them about cancer risks from toxic air pollution, U.S. Sen....

Campaign staffer Ben Hardin hangs placards at the election night headquarters of 6th Congressional District Democratic candidate Sean Casten at the IBEW Local 701 Union Hall in Warrenville on Nov. 6, 2018.

Democrat Sean Casten declares victory over U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam in pivotal 6th Congressional District

May 12, 2019 at 1:40 p.m.

In one of the nation’s most closely watched campaigns of the midterm elections, political newcomer Sean Casten declared victory over incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam in the suburban 6th...

Durbin, Duckworth, Foster want probe of Trump EPA response to Sterigenics cancer risks

May 23, 2019 at 1:26 a.m.

Both U.S. senators from Illinois and a Chicago-area congressman are calling for an independent investigation of the Trump administration’s response to federal research that found the Sterigenics plant in west...

Mark Biel, CEO of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, shows a typical order arriving at Sterigenics for processing during an Illinois House of Representatives committee hearing in Chicago on Oct. 26, 2018. Sterigenics uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical instruments.

What is ethylene oxide, the cancer-causing chemical used by Sterigenics and other Chicago-area companies?

May 23, 2019 at 1:26 a.m.

Ethylene oxide is a widely used chemical made in the U.S. by some of the industry’s global giants, including Dow Chemical, Huntsman, Shell and Union Carbide. Its main use is...

City Hall under Mayor Rahm Emanuel has denied for years that Chicago has a widespread problem with lead in its tap water.

City tests confirm some Chicago homes with water meters have lead in tap water

May 15, 2019 at 5:14 p.m.

City testing of Chicago homes with water meters found nearly 1 in 5 sampled had brain-damaging lead in their tap water, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s water commissioner acknowledged Thursday that...

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