State EPA targeting Markham businessman in effort to curb illegal dumping

By Joel Hood, Tribune reporter January 9, 2011

Promising to crack down on those who illegally dump garbage in poor, urban pockets of southern Cook County, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is targeting a prominent Markham businessman who in 2009 scored a $6 million waste removal contract with the city of Chicago.

EPA officials describe Jim Bracken, owner of Brackenbox Inc. Dumpster service as well as a transfer and recycling center in Markham, as a “chronic” violator of environmental regulations, and referred his case to the state attorney general’s office to seek compliance.

Records show Bracken has been cited at least nine times since 2009 with various environmental infractions, from illegally dumping crushed drywall in an open field to improperly accepting household hazardous waste, garbage and landscaping debris at his Markham transfer station.

via State EPA targeting Markham businessman in effort to curb illegal dumping – chicagotribune.com.