Residents press Lemont officials for on-the-ground air monitoring; village schedules Citgo/IEPA workshop
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Summary
Several residents urged the Village of Lemont to provide near-real-time monitoring of industrial emissions and not rely solely on later reports; Mayor Agofsky said Citgo and the Illinois EPA report compliance and the village will hold a public environmental workshop on Nov. 20 to review reported monitoring data and invite agency participation.
Residents raised repeated air-quality concerns tied to nearby petroleum operations and asked the village for more timely monitoring and public notification.
“They don't want the 'too late' device. They want some accountability before that,” said resident Laura Regal during the Truth in Taxation public hearing and subsequent public comment period, summarizing a recurring demand for real‑time monitoring rather than after-the-fact reporting.
Mayor Agofsky acknowledged the concern and said the village has been in contact with Citgo and the Illinois EPA. Agofsky said the entities report being in compliance with federal standards and that the village is arranging an environmental meeting on Nov. 20 to walk through the monitoring data publicly. “We talked to Citgo about this. Citgo is more than happy to have public workshops,” he said, adding that the Illinois EPA may attend and that village staff are exploring whether state or federal agencies could provide additional monitoring or interpretation of data.
Multiple residents asked that the village and administration be represented at the Nov. 20 meeting. Amy Kelly told the board she has tried to contact village staff about LEAC and monitoring representation and requested clearer administrative engagement at that session.
What’s next: Village officials said they will present the monitoring data at the Nov. 20 workshop and pursue agency participation (IEPA and potentially U.S. EPA). The workshop is intended as an informational session to make monitoring data available and answer resident questions.