Residents of Lemont and surrounding communities voiced unilateral opposition Friday to a proposed loosening of carbon monoxide emissions standards for the area’s Citgo refinery at an Illinois Pollution Control Board hearing.
“Our children only get one set of lungs,” said resident Dawn Evers. “Once someone’s health is gone, we cannot give it back. Please deny this.”
Citgo is asking for carbon monoxide emissions standards to be loosened for certain larger boilers and heaters at the Lemont refinery during periods of startup and shutdown, Citgo lawyer Melissa Brown said in an opening statement.
“Citgo’s petition and technical support document demonstrate that carbon monoxide emissions that would result from the proposed relief have an insignificant impact on air quality,” Brown said.
Such shutdown and startup events happen two to five times a year, according to Citgo’s website.
Brown said the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency did not have any objection to Citgo’s petition, and considered Citgo’s evidence sufficient to show the changed standard would not cause harmful levels of pollution or violate federal standards.
Many residents who spoke in opposition were parents particularly concerned about the effect of air pollution on children.
Melissa Fischer said she lives just a mile from the refinery, and has repeatedly seen “pitch-black” smoke emitting from its stacks.
“I have three little kids at home. One of them, since birth, has been dealing with health issues directly related to a toxic overload,” Fischer said. “I think if you saw her, if you saw the smoke, you would deny this without a doubt.”
Resident Laura Reigle emphasized the purpose of regulations is to protect the most vulnerable members of a community.
“We adopt rules and laws, we put them in place with certain regulation amounts, to protect the people that we have in our community,” Reigle said. “That includes the seniors, that includes the children.”
Others worried about the standard that granting such an exemption to Citgo would set for other refineries and sources of pollution.
“Illinois is home to many refineries and heavy industries,” said Zymante Pagojus. “If exceptions gradually become the solution whenever compliance becomes challenging, what will our environmental projections look like 20, 30 or 50 years from now?”
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Dave Wiltes identified himself as the resident closest to the Citgo refinery, and said that while he felt Citgo’s practices were good, the precedent that approval would set was dangerous.
“If you pass this, it opens a window for Mobil, for Clark, Texaco, Chevron, everybody else to fall behind this,” Wiltes said. “They’re gonna say, ‘Well, you passed it for Citgo, we should get the same.'”
Resident Ilona Staszel said what the community wanted was more regulation and transparency, not less.
“We want tighter standards, we don’t want more pollution in our air,” said Staszel. “Sometimes the air smells really off in Lemont, I know a lot of us have smelled it.
Hearing officer Brad Halloran for the Illinois Pollution Control Board oversaw the hearing. Residents filled the conference room at the Lemont Township Community Center.
“We do have about 75, 80 people here, I would say, it’s an overflow crowd, for the record,” Halloran said.
Representatives for state Reps. Nicole La Ha and Rachel Ventura also attended.
Marina Demirski expressed frustration toward Citgo for publishing notice of the hearing in Joliet’s Herald-News, a publication she said few people in the area actually read.
“I have serious concerns about Citgo’s request and how the public was notified,” Demirski said. “Why was a publication chosen that doesn’t primarily serve the communities most impacted by this decision?”
Public comments could also be submitted online. Will County Board Member Destinee Ortiz shared the comment she submitted opposing the petition on social media.
“Environmental standards exist to protect public health and they should not be set aside,” Ortiz wrote.
All comments will be gathered and presented to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, that will decide whether to grant the petition, Halloran said.
“The transcript and all the filings will be presented to the board, and then they’ll take a look at it,” Halloran said. “They have a board meeting and then they announce the decision, but it could be a month, two or three months.”
Last year, Lemont residents alleged the refinery was damaging air quality by releasing unsafe amounts of benzene into the air. A 2023 study found that the Citgo Lemont refinery was one of the worst polluters in the country.