Concerned southwest suburban Cook and DuPage County residents protest outside the Oak Brook offices of Sterigenics, a medical equipment sterilization company with facilities in Willowbrook. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)
Kevin Owens wore a gas mask as he stood along Spring Avenue in Oak Brook, protesting the emission of ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen, in the Southwest Suburbs.
Just yards away from the offices of Sterigenics, a company that sterilizes medical equipment and other items at two Willowbrook facilities, Owens said he was at Saturday’s protest because of his family.
“My mom had breast cancer. My aunt had breast cancer. My sister is a breast cancer survivor,” the Willowbrook resident said. “People in my family have been affected. We need to find out what’s going on.”
Saturday was Owens’ second time protesting at the company’s Oak Brook office.
“We have power as a community,” Owens said, noting that more than 8,000 people have joined the anti-Sterigenics movement through social media. “… We are not going to stop until they are shut down.”
Both the National Air Toxics Assessment and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry identified ethylene oxide, known to be a cancer-causing agent, in the air in the Willowbrook area and an issue that needs to be addressed.
Dozens of concerned residents, many holding signs urging the company’s Willowbrook facilities be shut down, lined the east side of Spring near Oakbrook Center for Saturday’s protest.
Don Raymond of Burr Ridge held a sign saying, “Won’t you not be our neighbor?”
“I live in the radius,” Raymond said, referring to the footprint of emissions from the plant.
Kevin Owens of Willowbrook protests Saturday outside the Sterigenics offices in Oak Brook. Three members of his family have had breast cancer. Ethylene oxide, emitted from the Sterigenics sterilization facilities in Willowbrook, is a known cancer-causing agent, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)
Suburbs reached through plant emissions are Willowbrook, Darien, Western Springs, Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Indian Head Park, La Grange and LaGrange Park.
Raymond, who has lived in Burr Ridge for 10 years, said that longer-time residents on his block have brain tumors.
“It’s ridiculous. We are at the point that they should shut it down and figure out what to do from there,” Raymond said.
The Burr Ridge resident said he is concerned about going to Target and other Willowbrook businesses near Sterigenics.
“I am in the area a lot,” Raymond said.
He felt that Target and other businesses near Sterigenics may begin to lose customers if action isn’t taken against the sterilization company.
Raymond said it is time for local elected officials to act on the issue.
“We are paying for our elected officials — people are supposed to act — to sit on their hand,” the Burr Ridge resident said.
Burr Ridge Trustee Guy Franzese said there have been “a ton of complaints” in the community about emissions from Sterigenics.
“A lot of people (from Burr Ridge) go to the Target and other Willowbrook businesses and Sterigenics sits right there,” Franzese said.
At one point, protesters broke into song, singing “All we are saying is we want clean air” to the tune of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”
