Burr Ridge Official Denies Sterigenics Comments

Burr Ridge IL

12 March, 2021

2:13 PM

Description

BURR RIDGE, IL — Two years ago, Burr Ridge Trustee Zach Mottl was accused of blaming elevated cancer risks in Willowbrook on the women in that town drinking too much. Mottl has denied making the remark since a fellow trustee leveled the allegation during a February 2019 meeting. The charge was made in the context of the battle to close down Willowbrook's Sterigenics plant, which regulators said was releasing cancer-causing ethylene oxide. At a Village Board meeting this week, a woman brought up the allegation of Mottl's remark during public input. She asked the trustee, "What have you done to lead the charge against (Sterigenics)?" Mottl did not answer her question. The allegation on Mottl's Sterigenics comment was first made at a Feb. 11, 2019, Village Board meeting. During the session, over which Mottl was presiding as acting mayor, Trustee Guy Franzese accused Mottl of "politicizing" the Sterigenics crisis to help himself as a mayoral candidate in the April 2019 election. He said Mottl sided with Sterigenics until he decided to oppose the company just days before that meeting. "Shame on you," he told Mottl. Franzese also said that at the Jan. 28, 2019 meeting, when he sat next to Mottl, "you told me the reason for the elevated cancer in Willowbrook was the women in Willowbrook drink too much." After Franzese spoke, Mottl said, "I take issue with several of your comments, but I'll leave it there." After the meeting, Mottl told a Chicago Tribune reporter that Franzese misquoted him about alcohol and Sterigenics. "I did mention that to my knowledge one drink or more a day increases a woman's risk of breast cancer. I did not say that women drink too much," he told the Tribune. During the Feb. 11, 2019, meeting, Franzese was by no means the only one who accused Mottl of being late in the effort against Sterigenics. A resident who said she suffered from cancer said Mottl appeared to have sided with Sterigencis until recently. In apparent response to the woman's comments, Mottl said he did not know where the record would show that he supported Sterigenics. "If you perceived me to be a little slow, I wanted to collect information and understand the situation," Mottl said. He cited his support for the federal lawsuit against Sterigenics and the formation of a village environmental committee to deal with the issue. This week, Patch asked Mottl about the allegation that was brought up again at Monday's meeting. He responded that those who oppose his efforts to reform Burr Ridge government want to protect their status by spreading falsehoods about him. "No one can point to a date, time or place where I actually said any of the things they claim because I didn't say them," he said. In the April 2019 election, Mottl was defeated by Gary Grasso, an attorney who had previously served nearly two terms as mayor. Franzese and Mottl are among five candidates running for three trustee seats in the April 6 election.