Residents who live near the Winnebago Landfill are considering legal action against the site because of the smell.
They say they’ve had enough with years of offensive odors that they allege are coming from the dump site. A handful of community leaders sat in the front of the room of around 100 people on Thursday night at a public meeting in Rockford to talk about next steps.
"I think it should be stopped and done," said Judy Parks of New Milford, about landfill operations. "And they keep adding and adding. How much do we have to put up with?"
The group was joined by an attorney that community leaders sought out named Glen J. Dunn. The Chicago-based lawyer said he's got experience suing landfills-- specifically the since-closed Congress Landfill, in Cook County Circuit Court. No action has been taken yet in the case of the New Milford region but Dunn passed outretention agreements, or a document outlining terms and conditions of potential legal action.
The Winnebago Landfill has been sued before, in the early 2010s, and some attendees asked why this time would be different. Dunn said any future lawsuit would be two-fold.
"Not only is it for money, not only is it to make the owners go away, comply, but it's also a way for your local government, in your community to see that you're all willing to come together. And with one voice through me or through whoever, you know, to the community group, you're willing to speak to your want to say, We want this change. We want this fixed," he said.
He declined to say whether the action would be filed federally or in a local court. Buzz Hardin asked Dunn about intent.
"So when you say that you're going to bring a suit against the company are you basically trying to get money out of them to pay the residents, or are you trying to fix the problem?...Because we'd like it fixed. We want to live there," said Hardin.
"That's a good question, we're trying to do both," replied Dunn.
Residents also expressed concern over potential odor coming from Advanced Disposal Services Orchard Hills Landfill, which is located in Ogle County. Dunn said legal action could potentially include other landfills as well.
A second meeting took place on Saturday. These past events aren’t the first time these residents have met about offensive odors and some attendees say it won’t be the last.
According to inspection records from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, state officials alleged violations of invasive odors and mud tracking on public roadways in May 2019.
Winnebago Landfill is owned by Waste Connections. WNIJ has reached out to landfill owners for comment but (as of Monday, October 21, 2019) did not recieve a response.
