Resident remains in contaminated home

Two weeks after harmful levels of radiation were found in Sandy Riess' West Chicago house, the company responsible for the contamination hasn't moved her out.

At the same time, West Chicago leaders are accusing Riess of making "demands," including that her attorney be hired by the city.

Last month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency test results showed that thorium in Riess' basement was causing radiation levels 300 times what the government considers safe.

EPA officials determined the contamination came from Kerr-McGee. That company, now known as Tronox, inadvertently distributed thorium throughout West Chicago for decades, which prompted two federally supervised cleanups in the 1980s and 1990s.

On Aug. 22, the EPA told Tronox to deal with Riess' situation. Company representatives have since been exchanging e-mails with Riess' lawyer, Mark Sargis.

The company wants Riess to allow access to her property so it can do further testing and complete a remediation plan that requires EPA approval, spokeswoman Debbie Schramm said.

Riess wants to move out before granting access to the property, Sargis said.

"Would you want to live there while this is going on?" he said. "She'll have no control over how long that process will take."

However, Schramm said, Tronox hasn't been asked by the EPA to relocate Riess.

Historically, it's simply not a request the EPA has made of Tronox, even when the company agreed to move previous homeowners, said Mick Hans, agency spokesman. The situation typically was worked out between the homeowners and company, Hans added.

Meanwhile, the West Chicago City Council has prepared a statement responding to Riess' charge that it has been unhelpful. Riess further alleged that city leaders had disparaged her in comments to other residents.

While not naming Riess, the city describes her accurately in the statement as having two dogs recently die.

The city council will publish its statement next week in a Daily Herald advertisement. The statement stresses that the city continues to spend money to oversee a stringent cleanup standard.

Officials acted immediately to arrange meetings with the EPA after learning of Riess' situation, aldermen write.

"The public criticism has resulted from the very simple fact that the city has not agreed to each of the resident's and one of her neighbor's demands," the statement says.

Riess' "demands" included requiring property deeds to declare past radiation contamination and mandating radiation surveys for building permits, the city says.

The council counters that it doesn't have jurisdiction over deeds, and the building permit requirement would be a "draconian" measure that would hurt property values.

Finally, the city says that Riess wanted West Chicago to hire Sargis and her technical consultant. City officials say that would be a waste of money since West Chicago already has a lawyer and consultant.

Riess and Sargis responded that the allegations were flatly false. They said they suggested ways to protect homeowners through safeguards, but never demanded or advocated anything.

Those suggestions were based on Riess' own experience, they said, of moving into the city, being told by the EPA that her property was safe, then, after getting a lawyer, learning it wasn't.

"Sometimes the facts are very inconvenient," Sargis said. "Frankly, we think we have helped advance the discussion and the recent EPA notice to residents."