CBS Chicago: Sterigenics Allegedly Covered Up Toxic Emissions, Operated Secret Plants

CHICAGO (February 5, 2019) – An investigation by CBS Chicago revealed the wrongful conduct by Willowbrook-based Sterigenics may have exposed even more residents to carcinogenic toxins than previously thought.

Former Sterigenics employees told CBS Investigative Reporter Dave Savini the company took extraordinary steps to cover up the release of the cancer-causing gas ethylene oxide and secretly operated other facilities in the suburbs.

READ MORE | Sterigenics Allegedly Covered Up Toxic Emissions, Operated Secret Plants, Former Workers Say

Plant supervisors allegedly ordered employees to “dump toxic chemicals directly into the public sewer system” to avoid the cost of shutting down operations and covered up how much was released into the air.

Other former employees say fumes were often released without going through scrubbers to filter the chemical.

To avoid plant shutdowns, former workers say the company manipulated alarm systems meant to warn workers when they were over-exposed to dangerous chemicals. And even when the warning monitors did go off, one worker said they were still forced to work.

In a declaration filed in federal court, a forklift operator said there were frequent warnings, but he was repeatedly told to ignore it and to “just open the doors and let the gas out.”

“I don’t think [the company] really cared,” the unidentified man told Dave Savini in an interview.

The workers told CBS they have colleagues who have died of cancer and live in fear that they too will get sick one day.

CBS reports the state EPA allowed Sterigenics to do its own emission testing and reporting, despite the fact that back in 2002, the federal EPA accused the company of failing to install monitoring systems and keep emission records.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard client Dr. Katherine Howard has lived seven blocks from the Willowbrook Sterigenics plant since 2002. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer and relies on a feeding machine to live. Dr. Howard sat down with Dave Savini to share her story.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not in pain,” she said. “My fear is that it’s inside of each of my children just waiting.”

Howard blames not only Sterigenics, but the EPA for her cancer.

“They’re the ones that are regulating. They’re the ones that are giving them the operating permits. They’re the ones who are responsible for protecting the residents,” she said.

In a recently uncovered letter from the Illinois EPA dated July 6, 1984, the agency warned the company that the 40 tons of ethylene oxide released the previous year, was “several magnitudes higher than desirable.” At that time, the company was warned that ethylene oxide could cause several forms of cancer. According to the letter, the EPA found the company was releasing it at levels 14 times to 445 times the acceptable level for people in a one-mile radius around the plant.

Despite those numbers, the EPA allowed the company to expand.

CBS reports before Sterigenics built their second warehouse in Willowbrook, they used three other facilities to handle overflow. The workers said the additional warehouses were not equipped to handle the vapors that would leak from the buildings. The warehouses were all located within a mile of Sterigenics – one on the 7300 block of South Quincy Street in Willowbrook, and two more in Burr Ridge. There is no record the EPA ever inspected them.

Sterigenics CEO Kathleen Hoffman, who has worked with the company dating back to the late 1990s, refused to be interviewed for the story, which aired Sunday night after the Super Bowl.

After the story aired, the seven law firms representing clients affected by the toxic emissions issued a joint statement in response to the alarming report. Please lick here to read the full statement.

If you or a loved one has developed cancer or other health problems due to breathing ethylene oxide emitted by the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. is here to help you. Our law firm is aggressively seeking compensation not only for those who have been harmed by the ethylene oxide emissions in Willowbrook, but also those who may be harmed in the future as a result of Sterigenics’ pattern of conduct. Contact our office today to learn more about your legal rights and visit our Sterigenics page to read more.