Dupage Policy Journal

Illinois state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is co-sponsoring a bill that would give local communities the right to outlaw the use of ethylene oxide in their neighborhoods.

House Bill 3885, which also has the support of the DuPage County House Republicans, comes in the wake of a state judge allowing Willowbrook-based sterilization plant Sterigenics to resume operations provided certain air quality standards are upheld.

“The levels of ethylene oxide that came out of this plant were poisonous and have been linked to a cancer cluster and some suspected cancer deaths,” Grant said in a press release. “If the Illinois EPA and our judicial system are not going to prioritize the health and safety of those who live in the area, lawmakers will take matters into our own hands. Every Illinoisan deserves to know the air they breathe is clean and safe.”

Grant argues that anything short of that subjects residents in neighborhoods where plants like Sterigenics are located to being sacrificed as “lab rats” rather than feeling safe about the air quality in their community.

“Sterigenics prioritized profits over safety, and we’re saying ‘enough is enough,’” Grant said. “Under no circumstance should Sterigenics be allowed to reopen, and based on the court’s recent consent decree, it is clear that local citizens and leaders need a tool at their disposal to protect themselves.”

HB 3885 would also give communities the power to hold a vote on whether the known cancer-causing carcinogen should be allowed to be used in their neighborhoods.

Still in her first-term in Springfield, Grant sits on the Consumer Protections Museum, Special Issues and Financial Institutions (ASCI) committees. Her 42nd District includes all or parts of Carol Stream, Lisle, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield, West Chicago and Naperville.