Northwest Herald | 28th plaintiff joins cancer lawsuits

28th plaintiff in the McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuits

The lawsuits blame the cancers on decades of vinyl chloride air and groundwater pollution from neighboring manufacturers Rohm and Haas and Modine.

Modine settled in 2008, denying any culpability but agreeing to pay $1.4 million toward medical monitoring and $100,000 toward property value reimbursement. The 695 residents received vouchers for $2,020 apiece to pursue any screenings their doctors consider appropriate. Centegra Health System agreed earlier this year to offer significant discounts for MRIs funded under the settlement.

Rohm and Haas continues to fight the lawsuits in court.

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Northwest Herald | FOIA reform signed

A souped-up Illinois Freedom of Information Act was one of several reform bills signed into law Monday by Gov. Pat Quinn.

The new FOIA shortens the time that governments have to respond to records requests. It also empowers the attorney general’s public access counselor with binding authority to enforce the act, and for the first time imposes civil penalties for governments that willfully violate it.

Northwest Herald | FOIA reform signed