Tensions between residents and a company near Chicago continue to grow.
On Saturday, residents protested outside the Sterigenics headquarters after elevated levels of a cancer-causing chemical were found in the air.
Dozens of people gathered in front of Sterigenics headquarters in oak brook chanting and holding homemade signs that said: 'danger,' 'kill pollution before it kills you,' and 'scared to breathe in our homes.'
In the crowd, two tiny hands held a message that said 'Sterigenics go away.'
They belonged to 5-year-old Debbie Farris. She and her 7-year-old brother Alex were attending their first protest with their mom and dad.
Jordan Farris, an Indian Head Park Resident, told reporters, "So we know that etheline oxide is more toxic to children, it's a carcinogen, so we're concerned that if Sterigenics is pumping it into the atmosphere, they're going to be breathing it in."
Sterigenics is a company that sterilizes medical equipment, using a cancer causing chemical called ethylene oxide.
The company is in the cross-hairs of federal, state and local authorities after elevated levels of the chemical were discovered in the air.
Farris adds, "It's disgraceful that the company is still being allowed to operate today, they need to be shut down."
Tom Hencinski says his family has been affected by years of living near the Sterigenics facility. He says his wife of 38-years recently died of cancer.
"She died of cancer in 2014, my daughter got Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer, and she had a very tough time with that. Nobody in my family ever had cancer, very healthy, all of a sudden now I have two with cancer - one deceased - it's very sad. Very unnerving. We're afraid to live out here. We don't know what to do," said Tom Hencinski, another concerned resident.
The only thing they can do, he says, is demonstrate their displeasure at the company headquarters, where they were joined by state lawmakers pledging help from the state capitol.
John Curran, Republican Illinois State House Representative states that clean air is a must and that it is not negotiable.
Republican Illinois State Senate, Jim Durkin says, “We will not let this go. We are going to find some type of resolution to this matter on the Springfield Side."
In a statement this month, the company said it's operating within its permit saying, "By properly controlling emissions while preventing life-threatening infection, the Willowbrook facility serves to safeguard global health every day. Sterigenics remains committed to working with public officials to evolve regulations in the continued interest of public safety."
"There are other alternatives, and we have the technology these days. Spend the money, see how you can sterilize equipment in a safer manner than with etheline oxide”, protest organizer, Neringa Zymancius said. "We're just pissed off now, and we want and demand answers."
