IEPA to clean up illegal downstate dump site

GRANITE CITY -- An illegal dump site in southwestern Illinois' Madison County is about to be cleaned up, courtesy of the state.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency says it soon expects to begin hauling off more than 260 cubic yards of illegally dumped waste from the site in Granite City.

The items include tires, demolition debris and household waste.

The state EPA's director says the work should be completed by Friday, weather permitting.

The cleanup is part of the Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps Program, under which the agency hires contractors to do the work.

Since the fall of 2006, more than 200 illegal open dumps statewide have been cleaned up. That has involved nearly 500 tons of tires and nearly 860 tons of metal that have been recycled.