The City of West Chicago has provided the following statement in response to the recent Order issued by the Illinois Pollution Control Board leading to the vacating of the West Chicago City Council's decision for a proposed waste transfer station.

"The City of West Chicago was steadfast in its commitment to upholding a fair and comprehensive local siting process in considering the Lakeside Recycling Systems (LRS) application. Despite the exhaustive seven days of public hearings and the submission of extensive evidence addressing substantive issues related to the proposed transfer station, the Illinois Pollution Control Board's recent decision has focused solely on a very technical aspect of the local siting law.

The Pollution Control Board's Order, leading to the vacating of the City Council's decision, does not challenge the detailed findings that LRS met all nine siting criteria and that the City's siting process was conducted with fairness and transparency. Instead, the Board's emphasis on the technicalities of the pre-filing notice steps has taken precedence.

Specifically, the Board's order centers solely on the way in which LRS notified a nearby property owner of its intent to file the siting application with the City of West Chicago. While the correct property owner received the notice, the Pollution Control Board deemed the process used by LRS as incorrect, leading to the vacation of the City Council's decision made on February 28, 2023. It should be noted that in the realm of Illinois law, there has not been one single instance where a decision by a local government granting site location suitability approval for a new pollution control facility was overturned based on an alleged notice defect when the purportedly flawed notice had in fact reached the correct property owner within the required timeframe.

The City Council disagrees with the technicality relied on by the Pollution Control Board and expects that an Appellate Court would likewise agree with the City Hearing Officer’s finding that the pre-filing notice steps taken by LRS were adequate under the law and further find that the City Council’s decision should be upheld."

For additional information about the proposed waste transfer station, please visit westchicago.org/transferstation.