CLINTON - The company that owns Clinton Landfill promises not to store a class of chemically treated hazardous waste there, and it offered to give the DeWitt County Board the final say in the matter.

"We are giving you control of that matter," said Chris Coulter, vice president of Peoria Disposal Co. "It's not our intention to store that waste in Clinton."

Peoria Disposal Co., parent company of Area Disposal Inc., has applied to the Illinois Pollution Control Board for permission to process electric arc furnace dust and store what it says is the less-toxic end product at its facilities.

The County Board met Wednesday to discuss Peoria Disposal's application in advance of a planned public hearing on it at 3 p.m. Monday at Peoria Public Library.

Coulter said there are no plans to store the waste in DeWitt County.

"When we filed the petition with the Illinois Pollution Control Board, we listed all of our facilities in Illinois and that is why DeWitt County was listed in that petition," he said. "This waste will be stored at our Indian Creek Landfill near Hopedale in Tazewell County."

The company says the treatment process has worked successfully for 15 years and has the approval of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. However, a local group opposed to storage of toxins at the landfill disputes the claim.

To ensure the county would have control over any waste stored at the landfill, Coulter offered to amend the agreement governing the landfill. It would require Peoria Disposal to ask permission from the County Board before bringing in any such treated waste.

The board will consider that amendment at its Aug. 21 meeting.

But that's not good enough, argued Clinton resident Matt Varble, the president the citizens' group WATCH (We're Against Toxic Chemicals). Varble backed a proposal from Board Chairman Steve Lobb to adopt a resolution requesting a public hearing with the state pollution board.

"I believe we have been kept in the dark about the true intentions of PDC for the landfill," Varble said. "The application they filed shows their entire deception, and it's a masquerade because they have known about their plans to bring this waste here for several years and they have not told you anything about this.

"They have taken advantage of our trusting nature and it is time we told them to take their landfill and go away," he said.

But the board voted 10-2 against seeking its own public hearing with the state pollution board.