Stop plans for trash, recycling station
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency must refuse the proposal by Groot Industries to build a construction and demolition debris recycling facility and garbage transfer station at the corner of Illinois Route 120 and Porter Road.
The people of Round Lake Park deserve better than to have their community surreptitiously turned into a garbage dump, and the citizens in adjoining communities deserve better than to deal with the traffic congestion, noise, pollution, and odors that would come from such facilities.
Anyone who travels down Illinois Route 120 should be aware of the impact: dozens of garbage trucks coming in and out of the facilities, and neither proposal outlines how to handle the increased traffic in the region. In the proposal for the garbage transfer station, there is no information about the plans to minimize environmental impact to air and water safety. Likewise, in the construction and demolition debris recycling facility proposal, there is no stated plan to prevent groundwater contamination, minimize dust, or handle hazardous building materials, such as asbestos.
The primary goal of our elected officials must be to protect the health and well-being of citizens. Secondarily, they must consider the costs of such facilities: they will employ a very small number of people while deterring more attractive businesses from coming to the area.
Maureen Heun
Round Lake