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Residents press Romeoville board for real‑time air monitoring after reported benzene spikes
Summary
Two Lamont/Lemont residents told the Romeoville board they found elevated benzene readings near a nearby refinery and asked the village to help secure real‑time fence‑line monitoring, public alerts and independent oversight; village staff said regulation and official monitoring are handled by the Illinois EPA and U.S. EPA and offered contact information.
Symanti, a Lamont resident and parent, told the Village of Romeoville at the Nov. 5 meeting that she is asking the board to help the community know whether the air children breathe is safe. "I never thought I would be standing here asking for something as basic as the right to know whether the air my children are breathing is safe," she said, describing her 8‑month‑old son's diagnosis of multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis and saying families in Lamont, Romeoville and Lockport have reported elevated cancer rates.
Symanti said independent community monitors and fence‑line data show repeated spikes in carcinogens. "A month ago myself, I stumbled upon the EPA fence line monitoring system for Cinco and found concerning spikes up to 52.6…
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