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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 parts per billion for benzene back in May 2025, way above the threshold of 9 ppb," she said, and added that a FOIA request showed a release of 70 ppb on a different date. "For reference, there is no safe level of benzene exposure," she said, and urged the village not to repeat mistakes she said had occurred in other communities where monitoring methods failed to protect residents.
Amy Kelly, also from Lamont, told trustees the community is not asking Romeoville to regulate the refinery but is seeking alert‑system linkage and outside, independent fence‑line monitoring. "We're really just looking for an alert system, and you guys have an amazing alert system. We're really just trying to link it into Illinois Emergency Management," Kelly said, and said Lamont planned meetings with an environmental commission and the Illinois EPA.
Village staff and the mayor responded that monitoring and enforcement of emissions are the responsibility of the Illinois EPA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The village manager said staff had contacted the facility identified in remarks and the Illinois EPA; "the Illinois EPA did confirm according to their monitoring, there has been no violations related to benzene at this source," the manager said and offered to share contact information and state regulator resources with residents. Mayor John Deno encouraged residents to contact their state representatives and said he had relayed the concern to a state lawmaker so the issue could be examined at the appropriate regulatory level.
Board members and staff described next steps as information‑sharing and coordination with state regulators: residents indicated they will pursue discussion with the Illinois EPA and the Lamont environmental commission, and the village said it would forward official notifications it receives from IEMA or the Illinois EPA to surrounding communities.
The speakers used multiple names for the facility in remarks (Citgo, Sitco, Cinco). Residents and the village identified the Illinois EPA and U.S. EPA as the regulatory authorities. The board did not take a formal action on monitoring at the Nov. 5 meeting; residents said they will continue coordinating with state regulators and local environmental groups.
