New Law Increases Penalties Against Illegal Dumping
Governor Pat Quinn signed
House Bill 2001 - an additional tool that can be used
by state and local law enforcement to fight the
scourge of illegal dumping.
“Illegal dump sites can pose serious hazards to
neighborhoods and entire communities,” said Governor
Quinn. “We need the help of Illinois residents to
prevent illegal dumping, and I encourage people
throughout the state to participate in keeping their
communities safe.”
The new law provides for increased penalties for 250
cubic feet of waste or 50 waste tires, and makes it a
Class 4 felony. It also increases the felony penalty
for open dumping from $5,000 to $25,000. Currently,
the penalty for a first violation of the open dumping
prohibition is a Class A misdemeanor, regardless of
the quantity of waste dumped.
“The Agency is grateful to the Governor and to the
General Assembly for enhancing our ability to prevent
illegal dumping and protect the environment from the
harm it causes,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director
Lisa Bonnett. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ann
Williams, Chicago, and by Sen. John Millner, West
Chicago.
Illegal dumping affects all Illinois citizens’
quality of life. Abandoned furniture, appliances and
garbage can be an eyesore and pose a potentially
negative impact to property values. Illegally
disposed chemicals, tires and construction debris can
pose a health and safety risk to nearby citizens,
especially children who may play on the disposal
site.
As part of the overall effort, the Illinois EPA is
partnering with the Illinois Departments of Public
Health and Natural Resources and the Office of the
Attorney General in a state-wide effort to prevent
illegal dumping. The idea is to stop each small
dumping event from becoming a larger, potential
threat to public health and the environment and a
costly mess that must be cleaned up with taxpayer’s
money.
An example of the consequences of unchecked open
dumping occurred at Markham. Illinois EPA was
alerted by the City of Markham to a tire fire at a
nearby illegal dump in April 2010 site. An Agency
inspection revealed discarded mobile homes,
automobile parts, boats, tires, drums and totes of
unknown liquids and solids, construction material
residue, gas cylinders, spills on the ground,
swimming pool chemicals and various other debris. It
was apparent that dumping activities had been going
on for many years. The Illinois EPA arranged for the
site to be cleaned up, at a cost of over $1 million
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removed
the various hazardous wastes, at additional costs.
Catching and punishing illegal dumpers saves
taxpayers money, and protects the public against the
environmental and health risk that the dumps can
create.