Rep. Schneider Leads Lake County Letter to CDC on EtO Report

WASHINGTON— Representative Brad Schneider, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Representatives Underwood (IL-14) and Sean Casten (IL-06) wrote to the Director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) – a federal public health agency housed within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – asking that the agency conduct a timely health consultation report and assessment to inform constituents about the risk posed by ethylene oxide (EtO).

The text of the letter in full is below:

Dear Director Breysse:

Thank you for your leadership at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), your work is critical to keeping our communities informed about potential threats to public health. We write to reiterate Lake County's request for a thorough, timely health consultation report and assessment to inform our constituents more fully about the risk posed by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions in our community.

As you know, since learning in 2018 of local EtO emissions, our constituents have been rightly concerned about whether the air they breathed is safe. We have worked in Congress to hold the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable for its EtO-related work, have introduced legislation to more strictly regulate EtO, and have pushed for appropriations that would support widespread ambient air monitoring in EtO-affected communities.

ATSDR's EtO-related work in Willowbrook, IL played a critical role in not only informing the local community about true ambient EtO levels, but also furthering the policy process in Springfield, leading to the strictest state-level EtO regulations in the country. Our constituents in Lake County deserve the full picture of local EtO emissions risk, particularly after local officials stepped up to provide county- and state-funded air monitoring after the EPA failed to do so.

We know ATSDR's Lake County consultation has been delayed as a result of the ongoing pandemic, data quality concerns and testing method integrity issues. However, we want to reiterate the importance of a thorough, timely report to inform our constituents. As we can be a resource in disseminating ATSDR's final product and helping fully engage our community on the issue, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We ask that you keep us, and our staff informed on the expected timeline for ATSDR's work. Thank you for being a resource on this important issue facing our community

Sincerely,

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