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* Press release…
Sterigenics, a leading provider of mission-critical sterilization services, today announced that it has applied for permits with the Illinois EPA (IL EPA) to install additional control measures at its Willowbrook facility. The control measures are consistent with upgrades proposed by Sterigenics to the IL EPA over the past several months and prior to the Seal Order which shut down operations at the facility. These upgrades would also allow the facility to comply with the new Illinois legislation for ethylene oxide (EO) emissions and would establish the Willowbrook facility as the highest emissions control environment for EO sterilization facilities in the United States.
The application seeks permits to install new equipment which would establish a permanent total enclosure through the use of negative pressure, increase the number of emission control stages, and combine existing emissions stacks into one common stack at the facility. Based on preliminary modeling, the installation of new emissions controls will further reduce the 0.1% of remaining emissions at the Willowbrook facility to minimal levels.
“By implementing these new controls, our Willowbrook facility will outperform the requirements in the recent Illinois EO law. Additionally, Willowbrook will operate with the highest control level for EO emissions in Illinois and in the country, once again demonstrating our commitment to go beyond regulatory requirements,” said Sterigenics President, Philip Macnabb. “Our focus is on acting in the best interest of the community, our employees, our customers and the patients and hospitals we serve every day. We are taking these additional steps to reassure the public while moving toward a solution which enables us to resume the critical work of sterilizing vital medical products and devices in Willowbrook for patients in Illinois and beyond.”
Sterigenics remains in compliance with legal obligations and is taking all appropriate legal actions to resume operations at Willowbrook.
* Joint statement from House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi and Senator John Curran…
Our legislation created the toughest restrictions and regulations on ethylene oxide emissions in the nation. Sterigenics’ poor past performance should guarantee no future permit. We do not see how Sterigenics can comply with the new law’s strict requirements to ever open its Willowbrook doors again.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:00 pm
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Good for him. Maybe someone can remind him of this next session when he goes on a screed about business-killing regulations. Unchecked capitalism can create some pretty awful externalities, which he is evidently only sometimes able to understand.
Comment by PJ Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:04 pm
What happened to free market’s, too many regulations stifling business growth, remove restrictions and allow industry to thrive…..
Guess it’s good campaign fodder until it’s in their backyard?
Comment by Frank talks Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:10 pm
Frank-the free market should allow corporations to pollute the environment with cancer causing chemicals?
Comment by ike Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:18 pm
@ike
Frank is making the point that republicans(specifically Durkin) are strong supporters of the free market in platitudes, but when the negative consequences of that hit them close to home then it’s suddenly no longer a good idea.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:23 pm
PJ nailed it.
Comment by Anon E Moose Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:23 pm
I’d say you got to let them go ahead and try the upgrades, but with no guarantees that they can stay operational unless and until the performance actually meets or exceeds those standards.
Comment by Practicalities Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:37 pm
@ike- maybe you don’t ever listen to GOP stump speeches but all three of my points have been said by every GOP candidate and elected official forever.
Again it’s a campaign speech they say over and over but yet when it comes to impact their backyard they fall all over themselves to “protect” their folks.
Comment by Frank talks Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 12:46 pm
Frank-sorry, I wasn’t sure if your comment was serious or not. Apologies
Comment by ike Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 1:06 pm
Has anyone reached out to BVR for comment? /s
Comment by Jocko Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 1:07 pm
This should not be politicized. Doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat. We are talking about vital sterilization of medical equipment. We are not just talking about a capitalist business. We all know about Superbugs. Making sure that ethylene oxide sterilization is available should be important to everyone as ethylene oxide is the only FDA approved way of sterilizing some medical equipment. Sterigenics was never out of compliance to begin with. Now that they have a plan to further comply with a new law’s strict compliance, let them at least try.
Comment by Science lover Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 2:52 pm
@Science lover - Let them experiment with new control devices somewhere not surrounded by homes, schools and parks. There are safer alternatives, but they cost more to use, but they also don’t spew a carcinogen into a neighborhood.
Comment by MarginofEra Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 3:04 pm
Compliance with watered down regulations is not an accomplishment. There are also other alternatives to EO in most if not all devices. Additionally Sterigenics repeatedly obfuscated facts by not even reporting emissions because they call themselves a “Packaging and Labelling” company. They have evaded transparency and with it accountability for years. Science Lover please do more research on the behavior of Sterigiencs over the past decades especially the last year or two.
Comment by Lives nearby Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 3:05 pm
I’m genuinely confused on this one.
The new regs are in place for an operation like this anywhere in the State. Provided that Sterigenics meets the new regs, under what authority would they not be able to operate in Willowbrook? I totally get fighting for your constituents, but how does this look if they move and meet the same requirements in someplace like Blue Island or DeKalb? The regs are stringent enough for some places but not others?
Comment by Stormfield Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 3:22 pm
@Stormfield - There’s a bad actor provision in the law for facilities that have been under a seal order like this one.
There’s also restrictions in the law as to where new facilities can be placed, so it’d be unlikely a new EtO emitting sterilizer would be in either of those anywhere close to people would be harmed under the new emissions profile (unlike the densely populated suburb in question).
http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=1852&GAID=15&GA=101&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=119501&SessionID=108
Comment by MarginofEra Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 3:30 pm
The Sterigenics owners should have been smart enough to preemptively install new scrubbing equipment early on. Had they done that, it’s entirely possible they would not have been shut down in the first place. The increased cost of sterilization would have been passed down to the end users (us) anyway.
Unless of course, the process is now moved out of state, which is likely at this point.
Comment by Stuntman Bob's Brother Thursday, Jun 27, 19 @ 5:58 pm