The Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District [BNWRD] has given a local plastics recycler until the end of the month to submit documents the district has been requesting for about two years.
If Akshar Plastics in south Bloomington fails to meet yet another deadline, BNWRD could put a plug in its sewer line and cut off Akshar from the sewer system. BNWRD executive director Tim Ervin said the district has never taken that final step before, and it is infrequent to even get to a hearing stage.
"Akshar Plastic has failed and refused to provide the documentation required as part of the compliance directive, including the updated discharge permit application, the facility site plan and wastewater characteristics," said BNWRD attorney Elizabeth Megli, of the Bloomington law firm Livingston, Barger, Brandt, and Schroeder.
Akshar was a no-show for at an April 8 hearing, but when faced with disconnection at a special meeting of the BNWRD board of trustees on Monday, the firm indicated through its attorney it needed more time to comply. Part of the new April 30 deadline includes Akshar’s payment of more than $30,000 in fines to the district, plus additional penalties growing at the rate of $1,000 per day per violation, said Megli.
That is separate from the $181,000 Akshar still owes theCity of Bloomington for a variety of nuisance and compliance violations. And Ervin said other government agencies are involved.
"When there was a leak into Goose Creek in January of 2023, we notified IEPA and they have come down and done their own investigation in both their land and water departments," said Ervin. “A foreign substance got into a combined sewer drain, and it overflowed into Goose Creek. At the time, the fire department was called, and measures were taken to limit the spill. I believe an outside person was brought in to remove a lot of the material.”
Akshar hasn't done recycling at its Bell Street site since the city obtained a court injunction to prevent the business from operating in September of last year, but Ervin said effluence is still flowing from the site.
"We continue to see water or some type of material coming through the sewers. We believe it could be ground water, but until the analysis comes back we won't know for sure," he said.
Part of what Akshar does in recycling, grinding, and compressing used plastic into new feed stock is cleaning the old materials. Ervin said it’s not clear what that involves.
"Any industrial user is required to provide us an overall analysis of what they put into the sewer system. That is one of the items we are waiting for Akshar to provide to us," said Ervin.
Akshar has not yet made good on its statement on Friday that it would provide a response to WGLT on Monday or Tuesday.
