Village officials say they are cautiously optimistic that a recent appellate court decision might allow Bartlett to prove that placing a balefill near the village is environmentally harmful.
The First District Appellate Court of Illinois late last month reversed part of a 1990 ruling that had dismissed a lawsuit filed by Bartlett, Elgin, Hanover Township, South Elgin and Wayne. The lawsuit charged that the Cook County Board improperly approved a zoning variance on land near the municipalities to construct a potentially harmful balefill.
The ruling also rejected an appeal by the members of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, the balefill proponents who sought reversal of a 1991 court order denying permission for the agency to cut down trees on the balefill site. The lawsuit was filed by the five municipalities in response to the agency’s decision to begin clearing trees from the site despite the Army Corps of Engineers’ rejection of its initial permit application.
Although the ruling hasn’t ended the battle over the balefill, local officials saw the reversal as a small victory.