JOLIET — In yet another Joliet Patch exclusive, Will County’s leading news outlet found that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a civil lawsuit on Wednesday at the Will County Courthouse to keep downtown Joliet’s Rialto Square Theatre shutdown indefinitely because of air pollution concerns. The lawsuit also wants a judge to impose fees of $50,000 against the defendants for each violation as well as $10,000 for each day the violations continued.
Count one in the lawsuit from the Attorney General informs Will County’s judges that the Rialto theater is a substantial danger to the environment, public health and welfare. The lawsuit was filed at the request of the Illinois EPA against the defendants “and is an action to restrain a substantial danger to public health and welfare, and to the environment,” the lawsuit reads. “Plaintiff seeks immediate and preliminary injunctive relief and civil penalties for the release of asbestos into the environment at the Rialto Square Theatre located at 102 North Chicago Avenue (editor’s note: it’s actually a street), Joliet, Will County, Illinois.”
As far as asbestos is concerned, it has been discovered in on five levels of the building including the basement’s thermal system pipe insulation with 5 to 10 percent asbestos content.
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The first floor and main event space’s thermal system pipe insulation and asbestos floor tile and mastic, with 5 to 10 percent asbestos content.
The second floor and mezzanine’s thermal system pipe insulation with 5 to 10 percent asbestos content.
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The third floor thermal system pipe insulation with 5 to 10 percent asbestos content.
According to the lawsuit, “asbestos is a known human carcinogen with no known safe level of exposure. Studies have shown that ingesting asbestos fibers causes asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs. Asbestos can also cause mesothelioma, and cancer of the lungs and the lining of the abdominal cavity.”
The lawsuit defendants are Will County Metropolitan Exposition & Auditorium Authority, which is listed as a unit of local government; R. Berti & Son Contractor, and Universal Asbestos Removal.
According to the Illinois AG: the Rialto is a multi-use public facility that operates as a venue for concerts and special events with a seating capacity of around 2,000. The site is also rented out for wedding and other private events. The main building consists of a basement, a first floor which contains the main event stage, auditorium, seating area and event rooms, a second floor and mezzanine, a third floor and fourth floor attic.
At the time of Wednesday’s lawsuit, “the site is located in an area of Environmental Justice concern as identified using Illinois EPA EJ Start,” Raoul’s lawsuit declared.
The lawsuit also names as defendants, R. Berti & Sons Contractor, Inc. doing business as R. Berti Business Solution. The defendants hired Berti to perform construction and renovations of the Rialto and on July 1, the defendants submitted a State of Illinois demolition-renovation-asbestos project notification advising they would be removing asbestos from the site as part of the renovation activities, the lawsuit outlined.
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