Above is from the October 23, 2015 Boone County Journal which is available free of cost at merchants across the county and on-line at: http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2015/Boone-County-News-10-23-15.pdf#page=1
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Current Status of MIG Dewane Landfill: ILD980497788, NPL Fact Sheet | Region 5 Superfund | US EPA
Site Contacts for
MIG/DEWANE LANDFILL
(EPA ID: ILD980497788)
The data and content on this page were last updated on Tuesday, September 29, 2015.
Title
Name
Email
Phone
Community Involvement Coordinator
JANET POPE
(312) 353-0628
Remedial Project Manager (RPM)
MARY TIERNEY
tierney.mary@epa.gov
(312) 886-4785
DISCLAIMER: Be advised that the data contained in these profiles are intended solely for informational purposes use by employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for management of the Superfund program. They are not intended for use in calculating Cost Recovery Statutes of Limitations and cannot be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA reserves the right to change these data at any time without public notice.
Other Names (Aliases) for
MIG/DEWANE LANDFILL
(EPA ID: ILD980497788)
The data and content on this page were last updated on Tuesday, September 29, 2015.
This tab provides a list of other names for this site. These names are currently in use or were used in the past. They are referred to as "aliases."
Current Official Name & Address of this Site
Site Name:
MIG/DEWANE LANDFILL
Site Address:
BUSINESS RTE 20E
BELVIDERE, IL 61008
County: BOONE
EPA Region: 5
Get an interactive map
see glossary for definitions of aliases »
Other Name (Alias)
Address for this Alias
BONUS LDFL
DEWANE LDFL (MIG)
M I G / DEWANE LANDFILL
MIG INVESTMENT
MIG/DEWANE LANDFILL
BUSINESS RTE 20E
BELVIDERE, IL 61008
DISCLAIMER: Be advised that the data contained in these profiles are intended solely for informational purposes use by employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for management of the Superfund program. They are not intended for use in calculating Cost Recovery Statutes of Limitations and cannot be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA reserves the right to change these data at any time without public notice.
MIG/DEWANE LANDFILL
(EPA ID: ILD980497788)
The data and content on this page were last updated on Tuesday, September 29, 2015.
The chemical substances (i.e., hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants) listed below were identified as contaminants of concern (COC) for the site. COCs are the chemical substances found at the site that the EPA has determined pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. These are the substances that are addressed by cleanup actions at the site. Identifying COCs is a process where the EPA identifies people and ecological resources that could be exposed to contamination found at the site, determines the amount and type of contaminants present, and identifies the possible negative human health or ecological effects that could result from contact with the contaminants.
see glossary for definitions of contaminated media and operable units (OUs) »
The following ATSDR Profile links exit the site Exit
CAS ##
Contaminant Name
Contaminated
Media
Area of Site
Found (OU)
More Information
71-55-6
1,1,1-TCA
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-00-5
1,1,2-TRICHLOROETHANE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-00-5
1,1,2-TRICHLOROETHANE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-35-4
1,1-DCE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-34-3
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-34-3
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-34-3
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-35-4
1,1-DICHLOROETHENE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
78-87-5
1,2-DICHLOROPROPANE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
78-93-3
2-BUTANONE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
78-93-3
2-BUTANONE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-10-1
4-METHYL-2-PENTANONE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
106-44-5
4-METHYLPHENOL
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
106-44-5
4-METHYLPHENOL
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
106-44-5
4-METHYLPHENOL
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
67-64-1
ACETONE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
67-64-1
ACETONE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
67-64-1
ACETONE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
67-64-1
ACETONE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-36-0
ANTIMONY
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-36-0
ANTIMONY
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-36-0
ANTIMONY
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-38-2
ARSENIC
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-38-2
ARSENIC
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-38-2
ARSENIC
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
71-43-2
BENZENE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
71-43-2
BENZENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
71-43-2
BENZENE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
71-43-2
BENZENE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
50-32-8
BENZO[A]PYRENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
11270036
BENZO[A]PYRENE EQUIVALENTS (BaPEq)
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
7440-41-7
BERYLLIUM
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-41-7
BERYLLIUM
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-42-8
BORON
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
108-90-7
CHLOROBENZENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-90-7
CHLOROBENZENE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-90-7
CHLOROBENZENE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-00-3
CHLOROETHANE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-00-3
CHLOROETHANE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-00-3
CHLOROETHANE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-47-3
CHROMIUM
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
60-57-1
DIELDRIN
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
60-57-1
DIELDRIN
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
84-66-2
DIETHYL PHTHALATE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7421-93-4
ENDRIN ALDEHYDE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
7421-93-4
ENDRIN ALDEHYDE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
100-41-4
ETHYLBENZENE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
TBD-00000005
INORGANICS
Soil
RI/FS (01)
7439-89-6
IRON
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
7439-89-6
IRON
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
7439-89-6
IRON
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
7439-92-1
LEAD
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-92-1
LEAD
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-92-1
LEAD
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-96-5
MANGANESE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-96-5
MANGANESE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-96-5
MANGANESE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7439-97-6
MERCURY
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
74-82-8
METHANE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
74-82-8
METHANE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
75-09-2
METHYLENE CHLORIDE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-09-2
METHYLENE CHLORIDE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-09-2
METHYLENE CHLORIDE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-09-2
METHYLENE CHLORIDE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-09-2
METHYLENE CHLORIDE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
7440-02-0
NICKEL
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
TBD-00000027
PCBs
Soil
RI/FS (01)
127-18-4
PCE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
TBD-00000011
PESTICIDES
Soil
RI/FS (01)
108-95-2
PHENOL
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
E17135955
SEMI-VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (SVOC)
Soil
RI/FS (01)
79-01-6
TCE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-01-6
TCE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-01-6
TCE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
127-18-4
TETRACHLOROETHENE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
127-18-4
TETRACHLOROETHENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
127-18-4
TETRACHLOROETHENE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
127-18-4
TETRACHLOROETHENE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-88-3
TOLUENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-88-3
TOLUENE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-88-3
TOLUENE
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
108-88-3
TOLUENE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-01-6
TRICHLOROETHENE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
79-01-6
TRICHLOROETHENE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-01-4
VINYL CHLORIDE
Ground Water
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-01-4
VINYL CHLORIDE
Leachate
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-01-4
VINYL CHLORIDE
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
75-01-4
VINYL CHLORIDE
Solid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
TBD-00000010
VOC
Soil
RI/FS (01)
1330-20-7
XYLENES
Landfill Gas
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
1330-20-7
XYLENES
Liquid Waste
RI/FS (01)
ATSDR Profile
About CAS #
Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) is a division of the American Chemical Society. CAS builds and maintains the largest and most current database of chemical substance information in the world. These chemical substances are labeled with CAS Registry Numbers® (CASRNs or CAS Numbers) and are used internationally as unique numeric identifiers for a single substance. They have no chemical significance and, because they are widely used, are a link to a wealth of information about a specific chemical substance. They are provided here for reference purposes to hopefully aide you in researching the respective chemical. For more information, visit the CAS Web site. Exit
About ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR is charged under the Superfund law (CERCLA) to assess the presence and nature of health hazards at specific Superfund sites, to help prevent or reduce further exposure and the illnesses that result from such exposures, and to expand the knowledge base about health effects from exposure to hazardous substances. ATSDR maintains a series of fact sheets and profiles about contaminants of concern commonly found at Superfund sites. Links to these resources are provided above when available. For more information, visit the ATSDR Web site. Exit
About EPA’s IRIS
The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), prepared and maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), is an electronic database containing information on human health effects that may result from exposure to various chemicals in the environment. IRIS was initially developed for EPA staff in response to a growing demand for consistent information on chemical substances for use in risk assessments, decision-making and regulatory activities. The information in IRIS is intended for those without extensive training in toxicology, but with some knowledge of health sciences. For more information, visit the EPA IRIS Web site.
About EPA’s SRS
The Substance Registry System (SRS) is the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) central system for information about regulated and monitored substances. The system provides a common basis for identification of chemicals, biological organisms, and other substances listed in EPA regulations and data systems, as well as substances of interest from other sources, such as publications. The system does not provide health hazard information at this time. For more information, visit the EPA SRS Web site.
DISCLAIMER: Be advised that the data contained in these profiles are intended solely for informational purposes use by employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for management of the Superfund program. They are not intended for use in calculating Cost Recovery Statutes of Limitations and cannot be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA reserves the right to change these data at any time without public notice.
Above items are from: http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.aliases&id=0500551
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EPA ID# ILD980497788
Last Updated: January, 2014Site Description
The 50-acre MIG/DeWane Landfill site is located about one-fifth mile east of the city of Belvidere and one-half mile north of U.S. Business Route 20 in Boone County, Illinois. Approximately 1,500 people live within one mile of the site.
The MIG/DeWane site consists of a 47-acre landfill and leachate impoundment system that was operated by various entities from 1969 until its abandonment in 1988 by M.I.G. Investments, the final operator. The landfill was a permitted municipal landfill and during its operating period it received household and municipal wastes as well as industrial wastes including paint sludge, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), asbestos, and liquids containing heavy metals. In 1984, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had inspected the site and determined that the landfill waste and leachate were contaminating site soil, groundwater, and sediment, and that the potential existed for surface water contamination and direct exposure of humans to contaminants.After the landfill was closed in 1988, Illinois EPA inspected the site in 1989 and found that the site was not properly closed and capped, noting that there was exposed waste and a 5 to 10-acre depression in the middle of the landfill. The depression collected water that drained into the landfill and resulted in over one hundred leachate seeps with some leachate flowing off site towards the nearby Kishwaukee River. Illinois EPA's inspection also determined that the leachate surface impoundment was about to overflow and/or breach, which would potentially cause serious environmental impacts to the river. In 1989 and 1990, Illinois EPA and EPA, in two separate emergency actions, removed approximately 155,000 gallons of leachate from the site.
EPA placed the MIG/DeWane Landfill site on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1990.
Site Responsibility
The MIG/DeWane Landfill site is being addressed through potentially responsible party (PRP) actions under state and federal oversight.
Threats and Contaminants
Sampling results from the MIG/DeWane Landfill site indicate that soil, groundwater, sediment, leachate, and landfill gas are contaminated by VOCs and semi-VOCs, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), and inorganic (metal) compounds. A plume of groundwater contaminated with VOCs, semi-VOCs, and inorganic chemicals was found to be moving towards the Kishwaukee River. Exposure to contaminants by drinking contaminated water or coming into contact with contaminated soil or sediment could result in human health effects.Cleanup Progress
In 1989 and 1990, Illinois EPA and EPA, in two separate emergency actions, removed approximately 155,000 gallons of leachate from the site.
EPA and Illinois EPA issued an Administrative Order on Consent in March 1991 to a number of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to conduct interim cleanup actions at the site, which included the installation of an interim cap over the landfill, and to conduct a remedial investigation (RI) to determine the nature and extent of contamination. The order required the PRPs to stabilize the site prior to the start of the RI. The PRPs conducted several interim response actions from June 1991 to February 1993, including the installation of a security fence around the entire site, the removal of 50,000 gallons of leachate-contaminated ponded water from the top of the landfill and 240,000 additional gallons of leachate from the surface impoundment, the excavation of 3,500 cubic yards of off-site leachate-contaminated soil, the placement of the interim cap, the placement of topsoil and seeding, and the construction of temporary erosion controls both on and off site.
Early in 1999, landfill gas monitoring wells were installed along the western boundary of the soil borrow pit property west of and adjacent to the landfill. These monitoring wells detected landfill gas (methane) in the soil borrow pit and elevated levels of landfill gas were also detected in a few homes in the Wycliffe Estates subdivision west of the landfill. In April-May 1999, gas extraction wells, an interceptor trench, and a flare system were installed and activated to remove landfill gas that was moving off the site. The system significantly reduced landfill gas levels within a month's time. No landfill gas has been detected in the subdivision since.
After the RI was completed, EPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) on March 31, 2000 to document its selected long term remedial action for the site that included the construction of a multilayer cap, the active and passive management of landfill gas, the installation of a localized leachate collection system, the removal of leachate and sediments from the leachate surface impoundment, and monitored natural attenuation of groundwater.
In December 2000, an addendum to the baseline risk assessment for methane and VOCs migrating from the site was completed. Using the collected groundwater and soil gas data, the Risk Assessment Addendum determined that the health risks were significantly lower than those presented in the March 1997 Baseline Risk Assessment and were less than EPA risk thresholds. As long as methane and VOCs in both groundwater and soil gas concentrations remain less than or equal to the levels measured in late 1999 to mid-2000, the indoor air pathway does not present an exposure pathway of concern. Overall, the methane gas levels have continued to decline from 2000 through 2003. Most gas levels have reached non-detectable concentrations.
The PRPs signed a consent decree to conduct the cleanup actions in January 2006. The PRPs completed part of the Remedial Design work plan, but are waiting for comments from Illinois EPA before continuing the Remedial Design work.
Illinois EPA evaluated new information, including existing landfill cover thickness measurements, leachate levels, and groundwater data, that had been collected since the ROD was issued and then supported making a modification to the ROD remedy, which included making improvements to the existing IRM landfill cover rather than installing the new cover system as described in the ROD. The improvements included placing additional compacted clay cover in areas on the side slopes consistent with the ROD remedy. The improved and graded areas would receive a minimum of six (6) inches of topsoil and be seeded to establish and sustain vegetative growth. No other modifications would be made to the ROD remedy. The changes were documented in an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) that Illinois EPA and EPA signed in August 2013.
The PRPs installed gas wells and vents at the landfill; and conduct periodic groundwater monitoring (sampling) events.
Contacts
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
howard caine (caine.howard@epa.gov)
(312) 353-9685
Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
janet pope
(312) 353-0628Aliases
MIG INVESTMENT
BONUS LDFL
DEWANE LDFL (MIG)
Above is from: ILD980497788, NPL Fact Sheet | Region 5 Superfund | US EPA
Gov. Rauner's rocky start calls into question the 'CEO' theory of government : News
Kevin McDermott
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner vaulted into office this year on the strength of a long-held theory among conservatives: that a successful businessman with no political experience would do a vastly better job of governing than the professional politicians.
Nine months later, Rauner’s state is mired in a legislative standoff and unprecedented budget crisis that has resulted in billions of dollars in unpaid bills, suspended state services, facility shutdowns and, last week, a worst-in-the-nation credit rating downgrade — a showdown, critics say, that stems largely from Rauner’s CEO-like approach to governing.
“Running the government is not like running a business,” James R. Thompson, one of two Republican former governors who have recently expressed concern about fellow Republican Rauner’s performance, said in a published interview last week.
The July start of Illinois’ fiscal year came and went without a state budget in place because Rauner and the Democrat-controlled Legislature have been unable to agree on one. Legislators passed a budget they acknowledge is as much as $4 billion short of revenue, and sent it to Rauner with calls to negotiate a tax increase and spending cuts to cover the shortfall.
But instead of accepting the proposed budget as a starting point for negotiation, Rauner vetoed it, and announced what it would take to get his signature: a series of business-friendly changes to state policy, some of which are ideologically anathema to legislative Democrats. They include proposals to allow local governments to limit collective bargaining, to revamp the state’s injured worker compensation system to the benefit of employers, and to rework the state’s civil litigation system to the benefit of corporate defendants.
Rauner also is seeking term limits and redistricting reform — a fundamental attack on a core of top Democratic legislators who have been electorally untouchable for, in some cases, decades. In addition, he wants a local property tax freeze.
Rauner has argued that, even though those proposals don’t relate directly to the budget at hand, they are systemic reforms that will stabilize the state’s economy in the long run.
“Rather than repeating the mistakes of the past — just kicking the can and raising taxes without real reform — now is our chance to transform Illinois to make it more competitive and compassionate,” Rauner wrote in a published essay June 25, defending his budget veto as a step on “the road back to fiscal sanity.”
Democratic legislative leaders countered that Rauner was abusing the budget process to force through partisan policy changes.
“We’re not going to allow our governor to hold middle-class families hostage over what we think are political issues,” state Rep. Lou Lang, a ranking Democrat, told reporters at the time. “To hold up the budget over things that don’t have anything to do with the budget simply is not a responsible way to move the ball forward in our state.”
The state has since continued to operate in the absence of a budget through court orders and continuing resolutions, but no one claims that situation can continue indefinitely. The state’s backlog of unpaid bills is approaching $7 billion. Next month, it will have to push back a scheduled $560 million payment to the state pension system.
Some selective funding freezes have already begun, including reductions in social service programs and funding to universities. A Chicago social service organization run by Rauner’s wife, Diana Rauner, has criticized the administration for what it calls “devastating” cuts in child-care support for low-income Illinoisans. The state’s decision to give lottery winners IOUs for any winnings over $600 has prompted national headlines and litigation.
Illinois is, “for all intents and purposes, out of money,” state comptroller Leslie Munger said in a public appearance this month.
‘CRISIS CREATES OPPORTUNITY’
In most political impasses, each side blames the other for the conflict. What’s unusual about this one is that Rauner has come close to plainly admitting, even touting, the legislators’ main complaint against him: that he’s using a budget fight as leverage to get what he wants from them in other areas.
“Crisis creates opportunity,” Rauner told the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board in April, after it had become clear that he and the Legislature were headed for a showdown over the budget. “Crisis creates leverage to change … and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change.”
Indeed, in the ensuing budget showdown, some of Rauner’s decisions have appeared to have less to do with saving money than with keeping crisis-level pressure on legislators.
This month, Rauner shut down both the Illinois State Museum system, based in Springfield, and the state-run World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill., a major downstate tourism draw. Both shutdowns are high-profile losses for the legislators of those areas, but ostensibly necessary to save money during the budget crisis. However, they aren’t actually saving significant money, because the union-protected staffs are still showing up for work and still getting paid, even though the facilities remain closed to the public.
The showdown apparently is having an impact on the public’s image of the man they hired less than a year ago to clean up the mess in Springfield. Rauner, still in what would normally be considered the honeymoon of his administration, is already upside-down in his job-approval rating, according to two recent polls.
The polls, by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and by the pro-business (and generally pro-Rauner) group Illinois Policy Action, both put Rauner’s job approval below 40 percent, and disapproval above 50 percent.
In the past two weeks, several other pieces of bad news fell around Rauner’s administration like dominoes.
On Monday, Fitch Ratings downgraded the state’s credit rating from A-minus to BBB-plus, potentially affecting $26.8 billion in general obligation bonds and making Illinois the lowest-rated state in the nation. Moody’s Investor Service took similar action on Thursday.
Fitch cited the budget impasse in its decision, but also cited problems that long pre-date Rauner’s administration, including the state’s “exceptionally high” unfunded pension liability. That gave both sides plenty of ammunition in the blame game that followed.
“Fitch points out that the Illinois economy lags other states’ and has major structural challenges,” Rauner’s office said in a written statement that attempted to cast the downgrade as vindication of his push for policy changes. “Gov. Rauner continues to fight for structural reforms that will put the state on a path to fiscal health, but the Legislature continues to protect the failed status quo.”
Legislative leaders, of course, offered a different interpretation. “This lowered credit rating is just one way that we can calculate the true cost of doing business the Rauner way,” Democratic Senate President John Cullerton’s office said in a statement.
Also on Monday, the organization that provides national accreditation for the Illinois state museum system indicated that accreditation is now at risk because of Rauner’s current closure of the system. The American Alliance of Museums’ Accreditation Commission, based in Arlington, Va., voted 7-0 to put the museum system on probation, citing “grave concerns” about its long-term viability because of the closure.
FORMER GOVERNORS SPEAK OUT
Meanwhile, two popular former Republican governors have recently made public statements bemoaning the budget stalemate and laying at least part of the blame on Rauner’s boardroom approach to governing.
“He comes from (being an) entrepreneur where you buy a business, you tear it apart and you sell it,” former Gov. Jim Edgar, who campaigned for Rauner last year, said in a highly critical interview in the Springfield State Journal-Register that shocked the state’s political culture. “I don’t think you’re going to tear apart the state and sell it. He might want to, but you can’t do that.” Edgar accused Rauner of holding the state’s budget “hostage.”
Former Gov. Thompson, who served a record four terms, told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald last week that the situation now was “the worst position the state of Illinois has ever been in,” with Rauner sharing in the blame.
Thompson noted the difference between “running a business” and operating a bipartisan government: “(B)oth sides have to sit down and look at what they’ve requested … (and) negotiate on the basis of what each side can deliver.”
In response, Rauner told reporters last week: “I don’t spend any time criticizing my fellow Republicans. I do not spend any time criticizing decisions made in the past that created the mess that we’re dealing with.”
Gov. Rauner's rocky start calls into question the 'CEO' theory of government : News
University Presidents Meet Privately With Gov. Rauner | News Local/State | Illinois Public Media
On Thursday, Governor Bruce Rauner held private meetings with university presidents, who say their schools are "at the brink of serious operational damage." Illinois' nine public institutions have now gone four months without money amid a budget stalemate.
"We had a very candid conversation about strategies going forward, and possible restitutition of budgets downstream," said University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen. He says that did not include any guarantee the schools will get their money anytime soon.
Western Illinois University President Jack Thomas says he realizes Rauner inherited a fiscal mess and wants to fix it.
"We want to make sure that we don't sacrifice our students, and higher education," he said.
Earlier this year, Rauner proposed cutting higher education by 30-percent. Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn said the governor didn't double down on that.
"The take I had from the meeting is, as all the parties come together to come to a resolution to this, everything's on the table for discussion."
As in -- just how much universities will get from the state, and when, depends on how and when the partisan gridlock is broken.
University Presidents Meet Privately With Gov. Rauner | News Local/State | Illinois Public Media
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