The US EPA’s decision Wednesday not to issue a permit to allow PCB waste in the Clinton Landfill throws the decision back to the state EPA… while an appeals process plays out. Citing concern for the Mahomet Aquifer, Governor Pat Quinn last month ordered the EPA to modify the permit to block PCBs from the landfill. Landfill owners Peoria Disposal says they will appeal the state EPA’s decision.
Agency spokeswoman Kim Biggs says if that appeal is upheld by the Illinois Pollution Control Board… the company will have to start over with its request for storing PCBs with the DeWitt County Board:
“Landfill owners will have to go back through local siting, to obtain the correct permit, and even then, the clause still exists in the modified permit that they would still need to go back and seek federal approval for disposal of PCB’s."
The governor’s office recently determined officials in DeWitt County never approved the siting of PCB’s when the landfill was approved in 2002. Biggs says Peoria Disposal has yet to file its appeal with the state EPA.