Hazardous Waste Continually Dumped By County Workers

After several unannounced site inspections this Fall, the Office of the Independent Inspector General’s (OIIG) office determined Cook County Highway Department employees potentially violated safety standards by dumping hazardous materials at their District 1 facility, 2325 Meacham Road.

Though the facility has a Palatine address, it is technically located at the border of Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows in Palatine Township.

Additional issues were discovered at a facility in Riverdale.

According to the Dec. 20 report from Inspector General Patrick Blanchard mounds of waste materials made up of gasoline, oil, anti-freeze and other chemicals swept from roadways have been piled in a heap for years. 

The mounds are visible from the highway department facility, located at the intersection of Meacham and Algonquin Road, across from Motorola in Schaumburg and down the street from Harper College.  

“From our standpoint, we indicated conditions we uncovered have the potential to cause a public health hazard, but our findings were not conclusive,” said Blanchard.

Concerns include the concentrated debris posing probable safety risks because of runoff that may contaminate soil and ultimately groundwater.

Included in the report are recommendations from the Inspector General’s office to develop an operations and maintenance program to properly store and dispose of street waste to avoid, or to reduce runoff.

The highway department now has 30 days from the date of the report to adhere to those and other recommendations, Blanchard said.

“Depending on the nature of the infraction, if issues still exist after 30 days, then we would have to make more assertive actions such as contacting the prosecutor’s office or the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,” Blanchard said.

Blanchard did say however, that his office has been in contact with the Cook County president’s office, and to his understanding, appropriate steps already are being taken.

“Reform initiatives have already begun at the highway department, including addressing equipment needs and reviewing policies, procedures and internal controls; however to truly bring about reform a change in leadership was needed,” said Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president.

John Yonan, formerly with the Chicago Department of Transportation has been selected by Preckwinkle to head the highway department.

Yonan is expected to take over the post at the start of the New Year, according to Liane Jackson, Preckwinkle's press secretary.

“Mr. Yonan will be going through every concern that was addressed by the OIIG systematically; public safety and employee safety is a top priority,” Jackson said.

Other issues discovered at the surprise site visits related to highway department employees using vehicles that had not passed safety inspections.

The OIIG uncovered employees ‘swapping out’ equipment from vehicles that had passed inspections – such as fire extinguishers and even tires – and transferring them other vehicles so they too could be deemed safe.

Current vehicle safety stickers also were a sticking point.

“The OIIG noted that numerous vehicles (that) appeared in use but had expired State of Illinois safety inspection stickers,” the report stated.

Issues were additionally cited with the handling and management of Cook County Highway Department inventory.

“Inventory policies and procedures for safeguarding supplies and equipment are inadequate and run contrary to the General Accountability Office’s concept,” according to the OIIG report.

The lapses included unlocked storerooms and having no individuals responsible for safeguarding or distributing supplies owned by Cook County.

Other recommendations made by the OIIG include requiring evaluations of current equipment and vehicles to ensure they meet safety standards and inspection benchmarks.

A final recommendation was to evaluate the current inventory of supplies and implement more control to protect assets of Cook County. 

The changes that are planned at the highway department are all in line with the president’s performance management initiative that requires departments across the county to institute more direct reporting and internal controls, Jackson said.

“While we have already been working on new initiatives at the highway department, I welcome and strongly support the Inspector General’s most recent recommendations for reform,” Preckwinkle said.

The jurisdiction of the Office of the Independent Inspector General extends to Cook County employees, elected and appointed officials, as well as contractors and subcontractors who do business with Cook County government.

The office conducts independent investigations to identify, deter and punish corruption, mismanagement and other unlawful activities against Cook County government, according to the Cook County website.