In a demonstration of public resolve that appears to be more loud than legal, Wheatland Township on Tuesday turned to an arcane state law to try to outlaw all dumping within its borders.
At the annual town meeting, where once a year citizens can make motions and enact resolutions independent of their elected officials, residents endorsed a measure that was triggered by a controversial plan to reopen Wheatland Prairie landfill in July.
The landfill at 111th Street and U.S. Highway 30 has been inactive since 1990. Its owner and operator, Waste Management of Illinois Inc., has applied to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for resumption of operations at the already state-permitted landfill.
That request is being fought by Wheatland residents and officials. They have enlisted the aid of some Will County officials who are committed to making the county a major player in the lucrative garbage-disposal business with ownership of its own site at the former Joliet Arsenal.
Opponents of the plan to reopen Wheatland Prairie have raised concerns about truck traffic, the impact on drinking water supplies and the filling of a wetland.
The measure approved Tuesday declaring all of Wheatland Township off limits for dumping was introduced by Supervisor John Weiffenbach.
But the measure isn’t exactly an ace up the sleeve. Lawyers say it can’t be used to regulate a privately owned landfill.
“It’s a nice try, but it won’t work,” State’s Atty. James Glasgow told the residents gathered for the town meeting in a highway department garage.
Glasgow told the residents they would be better off challenging whether the facility adheres to state EPA regulations in the hope of sending the landfill matter to a full-scale siting hearing.
A Waste Management spokesman described the “no dumping” measure as unconstitutional.
Prairie preview: The U.S. Forest Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have set up a reservation line at their field office near Wilmington and are offering a limited number of weekend tours of the former Joliet Arsenal site to small groups beginning April 20.
Tours are limited to 30 people and take about two hours, according to Forest Service spokeswoman Shannon Horn, who is based at the newly created Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
The conversion of more than 19,000 acres of the former arsenal to the country’s first national tallgrass prairie, when federally funded, is expected to take several years to plan and complete.
For now, visitors are being introduced to what Horn calls “the resources and oportunities inherent in the former Joliet Arsenal property.”
The tour times are 10 a.m. April 20 and 2 p.m. on April 21, May 5, May 12 and May 19. To book a tour, call the Midewin Tour Reservation Line at 815-423-6370, ext. 14.
Conservation conversation: Watch for a proposed “South Metro Regional Open Space Alliance” to begin to emerge from a meeting Saturday at Governors State University. Attending will be representatives from conservation groups and public and private recreation agencies that serve the so-called Chicago Southland area, from Indiana to Joliet.
Following up on an open space congress they held earlier this year, more than 40 participants reached consensus at another meeting a month ago that a regional alliance should be formed to preserve and enhance open space opportunities.
On the agenda Saturday are proposals to organize or elect a steering committee and develop an open space mission statement for the region.
