Chicago Tribune on Abrams Environmental Law Clinic's Illinois EPA Report
Illinois has cut its EPA workforce by 38% in the past decade — more than any other state, report shows
Yet inspections by state air pollution inspectors dropped 81% during the last decade, according to a report compiled by Gade, former Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago. “If you aren’t looking for violations you aren’t going to find any,” Gade said.
Often it takes persistent citizens, lawsuits from nonprofit groups and the glare of media attention to force environmental regulators into action.
For instance, the Illinois EPA refused to crack down on coal-fired power plants in Chicago and the suburbs, despite records documenting multiple violations of clean air laws. Market forces eventually priced the coal plants out of electricity markets, and most ended up closing under legal pressure from community groups, Chicago aldermen and the U.S. EPA.
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