The lawsuit the Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed after about 60 students and staff at Cortland Elementary School were sickened by a landfill odor ended with little fanfare.
Waste Management of Illinois agreed to pay thousands of dollars to DeKalb School District 428 and area fire departments. Waste Management also must implement an excavation and odor plan, although the agreement does not constitute an admission to violating environmental and landfill standards, according to court records.
The agreement is similar to promises Waste Management made to school and community officials shortly after the Jan. 14 incident. Students and staff of Cortland Elementary were treated for low-level carbon monoxide exposure, after odors from the nearby Waste Management landfill filtered in through the school’s ventilation system.