Illinois Governor, Chicago Official Continue To Spar Over Landfill

Date: April 13, 2005

Source: News Room

Illinois' landfill industry is becoming a battleground between Gov. Rod Blagojevich (www.illinois.gov/gov) and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell. Blagojevich has backed legislation that includes a provision barring landfill ownership by relatives of top state officials. But Mell, whose family owns a landfill, has issued public denunciations of the bill. Illinois EPA officials said the bill is designed to increase regulatory oversight and enforcement of landfills, and is not specifically aimed at Mell. The feud dates to January, when Blagojevich ordered a landfill owned by a distant cousin of his wife shut down after that owner boasted that his connections allowed him to evade permit requirements.

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