Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Energy and the Environment
Durbin, Duckworth To EPA: Don't Weaken Coal Ash Rule
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to not weaken the federal regulation for the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) or "coal ash", which protects drinking water, human health, and the environment. The 2015 rule established by the EPA sets minimum federal standards for coal ash disposal. Industry reports required under the 2015 rule show that coal ash … Continue Reading
December 12, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Kelly Statement On Report Of Additional Manganese Source In Southeast Chicago
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) today released the following statements after a Chicago Tribune report found that air monitors recorded dangerous levels of brain-damaging manganese at Watco Transloading on Chicago's Southeast Side. The members raised concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to consistently hold companies accountable for violations of the Clean Air Act, and … Continue Reading
November 29, 2018
Durbin, Schneider, Duckworth, Lipinski, Foster Introduce Bill To Require EPA To Revise Standards For Ethylene Oxide Emissions
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), along with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03) and Bill Foster (D-IL-11), today introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions standards for medical sterilization and chemical facilities, which have been the source of harmful emissions in Illinois. The bill also requires the EPA to … Continue Reading
November 26, 2018
Durbin & Senators Call On HUD To Improve Oversight Of Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with nine of his Senate colleagues, today sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) urging the agency to immediately improve its oversight of lead-based paint hazards in federally-assisted housing to ensure that families and children are protected from exposure to lead. The letter comes on the heels of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommending that HUD take immediate action to improve all … Continue Reading
November 19, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth Sign Bicameral Amicus Brief To Protect National Monuments Against Unconstitutional Attacks By Trump Administration
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), 25 Senators, and 92 House members, submitted an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs in five cases before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that challenge the Trump Administration's decision to significantly diminish the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in southern Utah. In the … Continue Reading
November 15, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Foster, Schneider Meet With Acting EPA Administrator, Call For Action On Cancer-Causing Pollution In Lake And DuPage Counties
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL-11) and Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), today met with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to discuss cancer risks caused by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions at Sterigenics Inc. in DuPage County, Illinois and Medline Industries, Inc., and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc., in Lake County, Illinois. The members urged Acting … Continue Reading
November 14, 2018
Durbin Applauds Senate Passage Of Bill To Improve Oil Spill Response In Great Lakes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded passage of a bill that directs the Coast Guard to establish a Center of Expertise for Great Lakes Oil Spill Research and Response, which will monitor, assess, and train first responders on freshwater oil spill response in the Great Lakes. The provision was included in the Coast Guard Reauthorization bill, which passed the Senate today. "Protecting the Great Lakes is critically important to Illinois' future, and this bill will help … Continue Reading
November 09, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Schneider Call On Trump Adminstration To Improve Its Monitoring Of Cancer-Causing Pollution In Lake County
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today, in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requested it perform updated and current air sampling and modeling studies to determine the cancer risks in Lake County, Illinois, caused by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions at Medline Industries, Inc. and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. The EPA has not conducted air emissions quality tests for these two … Continue Reading
November 07, 2018
Durbin Calls For Investigation Into Trump Administration's Delay Of Notifying Lake County Residents About Cancer-Causing Pollution
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, in a letter to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), called for an investigation into whether EPA followed proper protocols when critical health information about cancer-causing ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions at Medline Industries, Inc. and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. was withheld from Lake County, Illinois residents. Last week, the Chicago Tribune published a story that details how … Continue Reading
November 02, 2018
Durbin Statement On Rauner & Trump Administrations' Delay Of Notifying Lake County Residents About Cancer-Causing Pollution
CHAMPAIGN - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Chicago Tribune published a story that details how two facilities in Lake County, Illinois - Medline Industries, Inc. in Waukegan and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. in Gurnee - appear to emit cancer-causing emissions, yet the Rauner Administration, along with the Trump Administration, have delayed giving this pertinent information to Lake County residents: This is simply outrageous. Day after day, … Continue Reading
November 01, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, foster Request EPA Investigation Into Rauner And Trump Administrations' Delay Of Notifying Public About Sterigenics Cancer Risk
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Bill Foster (D-IL-11) today requested the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigate if EPA complied with all statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements and protocols when it intentionally withheld critical health information from the public about carcinogenic air pollution from the Sterigenics facility in DuPage County, Illinois. Their … Continue Reading
October 16, 2018
Durbin Presses EPA To Limit Harmful Pollution From Meat-Processing Plants
SPRINGFIELD - Following recent reports by the Environmental Integrity Project and the Chicago Tribune that show that a JBS-owned pork-processing plant in Beardstown, Illinois, released 1,849 pounds of nitrogen a day, on average, into a tributary to the Illinois River, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to thoroughly review its Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Meat and Poultry Products and set new, stricter standards … Continue Reading
October 15, 2018
Durbin Statement On JBS Pork-Processing Plant Pollution In Beardstown
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding a Chicago Tribune story that reported a Beardstown, Illinois pork-processing plant, owned by JBS, discharged more nitrogen from animal waste into Illinois waterways than any other slaughterhouse in the country last year: The details outlined in the Chicago Tribune story aren't the first reports we've read on the reckless polluting occurring from this particular plant. Recent reports have stated … Continue Reading
October 11, 2018
Durbin Calls On President Trump And Republicans To Get Tough On Combating Climate Change
WASHINGTON - Following the release of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (UN IPCC) report on Monday, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on President Trump and Congressional Republicans to take immediate action to limit human-induced global warming. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin also urged President Trump to rethink his decision to leave the Paris Climate Agreement. "Last year, President Trump decided that the United States would step away from … Continue Reading
June 28, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Schneider Urge U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers To Prevent Foxconn Flooding Impact
WASHINGTON - While President Donald Trump breaks ground at the Foxconn project in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase their oversight of the Foxconn project to prevent increased flooding in Lake County, Illinois. The State of Wisconsin has allowed Foxconn to fill in up to 26 acres of wetlands, which would lead to a higher volume … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Senate Passes Durbin Amendment Ensuring Full Funding For La Grange Lock & Dam In Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that full funding will be available for the much-needed rehab of Illinois' La Grange Lock & Dam in Versailles, Illinois. Durbin cosponsored a bipartisan amendment to the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 funding bill with Senator John Thune (R-SD), which will free up enough funding in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) to ensure La Grange receives the $28.8 million in funding needed to … Continue Reading
May 11, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Kelly Question EPA On Declared Monitoring & Testing Of Air Emissions
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) today raised concerns at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to consistently require companies to monitor and test their air emissions for manganese air pollution-a known neurotoxin-on the Southeast Side of Chicago. The members pressed EPA to use its full authority under the Clean Air Act to protect human health and the environment. Today's letter to EPA … Continue Reading
April 30, 2018
Durbin, Dem Senators To EPA: Don't Weaken Coal Ash Rule
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led 10 Democratic Senators in urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to not weaken the federal regulation for the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) or "coal ash", which protects drinking water, human health, and the environment. The 2015 rule established by the EPA sets minimum federal standards for coal ash disposal. Since the rule was finalized, Congress passed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the … Continue Reading
April 18, 2018
Durbin, Quigley, Duckworth Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation To Map Urban Flooding & Help FEMA Better Assess Risks
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-02) and John Culberson (R-TX-07) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2018 to enhance the mapping of urban flooding to prevent associated damage. The legislation will help give cities and towns the tools they need to address flooding in a local … Continue Reading
March 07, 2018
Durbin Meets With Utah Wilderness Coalition About Trump's Plans To Shrink Bears Ears & Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments
WASHINGTON-Following a recent New York Times article that highlighted internal U.S. Department of Interior documents showing that efforts to reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah were motivated by a desire to increase oil and natural gas development in the region and to allow additional coal and mineral mines, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Utah Wilderness Coalition to express his continued support for maintaining the … Continue Reading