The state of Illinois has gone to court to force two companies in Milan to clean up their property. The complaint by the attorney general alleges numerous environmental violations by Neville's Trucking Disposal and J and J Roll-off Service, on West Second Avenue. Attorney General spokesman, Scott Mulford, says state inspectors first went to the site in May of last year (2012) following a complaint by the village. And during that visit, and two more, inspectors found shingles, broken concrete, and other waste - on the ground and in dumpsters.
"They are not permitted by the Illinois EPA to act as any sort of a sanitary landfill where old appliances or construction debris can be accumulated."
Mulford says the waste on the property also included tires.
"There are very specific rules for when tires are stored until they're sent to a recycling facility. And one of the main things is that water should not be allowed to accumulate in them - they need to be stacked in a way that will inhibit that because of the possibility of disease."
The two companies are owned by brothers, Jonathon and Jason Neville, and Mulford says their lack of cooperation, in part, led to the court case. A family spokesman says the propery in Milan was part of a bankruptcy case, and was sold recently. And a visit to the site today found very little waste still sitting on the ground, compared to aerial views from recent years available on Google Maps.
(photo: 830 West Second Avenue in Milan, today)