Some wore surgical masks others gas masks Friday to protest the toxic emissions emanating from the Willowbrook Sterigenics plant.
The company - which has been operating here since 1984 uses ethylene oxide - a carcinogenic chemical to provide sterilization for the pharmaceutical, medical and food industries.
Ten days ago the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified the village that the toxic gas being emitted was a health hazard that posed an elevated risk to at least 19,000 residents living near.
"This is not a 'not in my backyard' situation," protester Adam Sahloul said. "We want this to not happen to any other community in this country."
In 2013, Rose Marth’s daughter Kaylee--who was just 3 years old at the time--was diagnosed with leukemia. She says within a two-year period three people got sick with cancer on her block. She now wonders whether the air quality played a part in the illnesses.
"It was the most devastating thing we ever went through and it was hard watching her go through everything she did," she told NBC 5.
Two years ago the Environmental Protection Agency increased the cancer risk from ethylene oxide by thirty times based on new research.
Residents at a town hall meeting Wednesday were enraged to hear that the company could not immediately be shut down because it was operating under EPA mandated regulations.
Sterigenics has questioned the data set used by the federal agency that authored the report and that same agency said a in recent statement that “the emissions of ethylene oxide from the Sterigenics are not an immediate threat to public health and are not considered to be an emergency situation.”
Protesters here say they’re not satisfied with government compliance or EPA standards. They want Sterigenics shut down and moved away from residential neighborhoods and they say they won’t give up until it’s gone.
