Attorney General orders Bridgeport factory to clean up

By Hayley Carlton

Attorney General Lisa Madigan recently ordered owner James L. Mazzochi to remove waste materials from his Chicago Plating Company, which is located at 1400 W. 31st Pl. in Bridgeport and closed last year. Madigan filed a court order requiring Mazzochi to spell out how he will handle cleaning up the site.

“He’s filed a plan, and everything’s on schedule,” said Natalie Bauer, a Madigan spokesperson. Although the site had not been cleaned as of this writing, Bauer said Mazzochi’s plan offers details on how and when he intends to do so.

Chicago Plating Company, a metal electroplating company that provided decorative chrome plating for auto parts, operated between 1983 and December 2007. Its two-story production and storage facility sits in a residential area, about 100 feet from nearby houses, and abuts the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Metal electroplating uses hazardous substances and typically generates hazardous wastes. According to Madigan’s complaint, Chicago Plating never had a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit for treating, storing, and disposing of hazardous waste. The complaint also alleges Mazzochi never applied for nor received a hazardous waste generator identification number from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is required for anyone who stores, transports, or disposes of hazardous waste.

Although the factory closed last year, hazardous wastes allegedly were left behind in the building. Mazzochi allegedly had twice denied Illinois EPA officials access to his factory and complied only after Madigan issued an administrative warrant. At the inspection, EPA officials and Cook County law enforcement officials allegedly found hazardous materials on site, including cyanide, which was found in open containers and unmarked drums and pails.

Other containers contained unknown substances, including brown sludge, yellow liquid, and brown and green solids. Also, potentially dangerous material had spilled on the floor. In addition, the inspection revealed unknown substances kept out in the open and in unmarked drums and containers. After the inspection, the Illinois EPA referred the matter to Madigan’s office.

            "The site is a danger to human health,” said Jill Watson, spokesperson for the Illinois EPA.  “There was a ton of unlabeled drums.”

            The Illinois EPA’s contact with Mazzochi began in 2007 when it received a complaint about hazardous waste storage and disposal.  On Nov. 2, 2007, the EPA attempted to inspect the plant, and Mazzochi allowed the inspectors in. They found metal plating equipment and at least 50 drums of unmarked material.  Mazzochi also allowed inspectors to take photographs, but he did not produce documentation regarding waste disposal. After leaving the building, inspectors noted a large, dark stain on the side of the building, running from a second floor window to the ground.

On Feb. 22, EPA representatives returned for a second inspection, but Mazzochi refused to allow them in. At that time, the inspectors noted a hose hanging from a second floor window of the building and running down to the ground.

Three days later, inspectors returned, accompanied by Cook County peace officers, to inspect the site. No one was at the site and inspectors could not gain entry, but they did note a pail containing scrap metal at the rear entrance that had a label stating it originally had held cyanide.