City, Community Respond to Veolia Waste Transfer Station Issues
The City of Evanston held a press conference near the Veolia Waste Transfer Station in Evanston on Friday, March 16, 2012 regarding the lawsuit filed against it by Veolia Environment Services as relates to its operation of a waste transfer station at 1711 Church Street in Evanston, Illinois.
Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, was joined by Aldermen Delores Holmes (5th Ward) and Peter Braithwaite (2nd Ward), Kristen White and Dorothy Headd of Evanston Neighbors United (a group concerned about the operations at the waste transfer station) and City of Evanston Corporation Counsel Grant Farrar to discuss the ongoing problems associated with the transfer station.
Listen to remarks from city officials and residents here>>>
"Residents and the city are here today to speak on the injustice of having a waste transfer station operating in a predominantly residential area of the city and the station’s negative impact upon the residents as well as the community as a whole,” said Mayor Tisdahl. “The Veolia Waste transfer station is Evans tacitly in which waste hauling trucks bring in and unload muni solid waste and then is loaded into a large semi-truck and then hauled to a dump. Other communities’ trash comes to Evanston before being shipped out to its permanent landfill.”
“According to the Environment Protection Act, no person can establish any pollution control facility for use as a garbage control facility which is located less than 1000 feet from the nearest property zone used for primarily residential use. This regulation is meant to prevent residents from experiencing nuisances caused by waste transfer station; however this regulation does not apply to Veolia because the EPA exempts any such facility that was in existence before Jan 1, 1990. This exemption has allowed the Veolia waste transfer station to be within 50 feet of the nearest residence for over 27 years."
“The city would like to express support for the permit application currently pending with the IEPA the Lake Shore Waste to operate a new transfer station at 6132 W Oakton St. in the Village of Morton Grove. The proposed transfer station is located in an industrial of the village with little to no impact to the residents and residential property. The location in Morton Grove is 5.4 miles from the transfer station in Evanston. The new transfer station will provide users of the Veolia Transfer Station in Evanston a nearby alternative to transfer their waste at a more appropriately situated facility. I would like to ask the Governor of the State of Illinois and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help the citizens of Evanston to resolve this issue,” concluded Mayor Tisdahl.
“We know that there have been residents on Darrow Ave. who have complained year, after year about the rodents and the smell some of whom have lived here for decades,” explained Alderman Holmes. “We need to address this social injustice that has been done to this particular community. We have thousands of HS students that go past this dump every day. We have residents that we don’t know what even might have happened to them in terms of their health issues."
“We have a responsibility to stand up for residents whenever they feel an injustice has been done as well as protect the environment so that families can live in a very healthy way,” said Alderman Braithwaite who represents the area in which the transfer station is located. “This past month we have had an opportunity to lobby downstate to the IEPA and the residents that were there presented a very solid case that I think won the attention of the IEPA.”
“Veolia sued the city and continues a pattern of conduct that Veolia has perused against the city for approximately two years. Veolia is a $50 billion multinational French conglomerate that is utilizing $500 an hour attorneys to continue to bully the City of Evanston and they are trying to use the courts in furtherance of that aim,” explained Grant Farrar, Corporation Counsel for the city. “The city passed an ordinance last year imposing a transfer station fee. That ordinance as a matter of law is valid; it is done pursuant to several sources of authority; in case law and Illinois statute. Veolia is contesting that and have filled a lawsuit that is not grounded in fact or law. The city is contesting that law suit and has filled its answer in affirmative defenses. We are currently in front of a new judge because Veolia has continued a pattern that it’s done in other issues related to the law, it has gone judge shopping. It’s contesting every Administrative Adjudication case that is brought against it; it’s tying up the resources of city staff and the city law staff in fighting those Administrative Adjudication findings. In short, it is continuing to use the courts to continue its pattern of not acting as a good neighbor. We look forward to being a strong voice on behalf of the city to win this case as a matter of law.”
Read the city's response to Veolia complaint here>>>
“I have lived in this ward for nearly five years. I pass by here daily with my toddler. In addition to the many residents who surround the dump, I am deeply concerned about the impact that this facility is having on the health of our youth, many of whom pass by here daily on their way to ETHS and Masson Park, which is used annually by 68000 residents,” said neighbor Kristin White. “What we know about this waste transfer station is that it stinks, that 90 trucks on average drive through our neighborhood ( … ) each day to dump their loads; that Veolia processes between 400 and 500 tons of garbage each day; and that Veolia is not using any dedicated modern technology to sort and determine the contents of their garbage other than the eyes of their workers. What we don’t know is what is being dumped here. We have been able to successfully work with the Brady Scholars Program at Northwestern University this year, who cared very much about the injustice of this issue, they were able to share with us national and international research that shows us that it is not uncommon to find concerning levels of lead, asbestos, mercury bacteria, spores and organic dust in waste transfer stations even though Veolia states they do not collect some of these materials. If this Veolia Waste Transfer Station was located in an industrial area, with limited traffic and few people around, the health and environmental impact would not have the same consequences as it does for Evanston residents who cross paths with this waste transfer station each day.”
“I have lived in the 5th ward for almost four decades. I am not happy about the Veolia Waste Transfer Station located in my neighborhood and I want to see it go,” said neighbor Dorothy Headd. “Many of the residents I have spoken to feel the same way about this issue. We, the residents of the 5th ward, have many concerns about this Waste Transfer Station being in our neighborhood. We are concerned about our property values, our health, the environment, our safety and the safety of our children. Having this Waste Transfer Station right in the middle of where we live, work and play puts the residents at risk and we want to see it gone."