Dupage Policy Journal

An industry source told the DuPage Policy Journal that there have been “rumblings” about reopening the Sterigenics medical equipment plant in Willowbrook in light of the emergency reopening of one of its plants in Georgia under the coronavirus crisis. 

The source, who asked not to be identified, provided no details of any possible talks surrounding the Illinois plant but said that the company would need the “full and immediate cooperation” from the state before it opened its doors.

Sterigenics walked away from Willowbrook in October 2019 under intense public criticism and increasing legislative and regulatory pressure over its use of a compound, ethylene oxide (EtO), to sterilize medical equipment – syringes, catheters and other equipment now desperately needed to fight the spread of the virus. In Georgia the company voluntarily closed its plant in Cobb County last August to install more rigid EtO emission controls. It has been closed ever since.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker

The plants fell victim to media reports that EtO emissions pose a danger to the public, the company said. Air quality experts have repeatedly refuted those assertions.

On Wednesday, Cobb County Commission chairman Mike Boyce signed an emergency authorization to allow the Georgia plant to open on a “limited contingency basis.” This came  after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged Gov. Brian Kemp to allow the plant to reopen to help with the supply of medical equipment.

Neither the FDA nor Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office responded to requests seeking information on possible talks of reopening the plant in Illinois.

At the time of the closing of the Willowbrook plant in October, Sterigenics had a consent order from a judge to open but the company said in a statement, “Unfortunately, inaccurate and unfounded claims regarding Sterigenics and the unstable legislative and regulatory landscape in Illinois have created an environment in which it is not prudent to maintain these critical sterilization operations in Willowbrook.”