Illinois targets polluters in low-income communities

Resolves complaint about Chicago scrap shredder

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administratio nv owed Friday to take am ore rigoro usl ook atp ollute rsb efore allowing the mt oo perat eo r expand in low-income communities.

The p o licy change resolves a civil rights lawsuit filed three years ago inr esponse to th eI llinois Environmental Protectio n Ag ency’s approval of a scrap shredde r in Chicago’s predominantly Latin o S o uth e ast Side aft e r th eo wne rs close d th eir often-troubled General Iron operatio ninw ealthy, largely White Lincoln Park.

Lawye rs f o rc ommunity groups petitione df or federal intervention, accusing th eI llinois EPA and city agencies o fc olluding with develope rst o concentrate pollute rsinac orner o fthe city where residential yards already are contaminated with heavy metals and toxic chemicals fro mn earby industries.

Under an agreement with U.S .E PA investigators, the state agency promise dto require mor ee ffective pollution-control equipment and consider air-quality monitoring if industries want to build or expand in environmental justice communities throughout Illinois.

Past violations of environmental laws will be taken into consideratio nasw ell.

Pollute rsn ear schools, day care centers and medical facilities will face increased scrutiny. Neighbors will get more notifications about permit applications and the state will require public hearings whe nr equested.

“Segregation is alive in Chicago, and it’s a future that I don’t want my kids to live through,” said Gina Ramirez ,as enior adviser to the Southeast Environmental Task Force. “Illinois should tre at p ermitting these dangerous facilities with the seriousness that it deserves. That means actually taking into account the health o fth e people living in the communitie swh ere the y ar eo perating.”

Afte r th eI llinois EPA approve dap ermit fo rthe

RMG scrap shredde r in 2020 ,c ommunity groups focuse d th eir efforts on then-Mayo rL ori Lightfoot, protesting outside her home and filing a civil rights c o mplaint against the city with th eU. S .De partment of Housing and Urban Development.

Som eo pponents stage da hunger strike to draw attentio nt o what the yc onsidered environmental racism.

Lightfoot ende d up denying the final permit Ohio-base dR MG needed to begin shredding scrap metal along the Calumet Rive rn ear 116th Street and Avenu e O.

RMG is appealing . For now, the company’s machinery stands idle af e wbl ocks away from Washington High School, where state monitoring equipment routine lyd etects som eof the city’s dirtiest air.

The agreeme ntb etween federal and stat eo fficials did no tr evoke RMG’s state permit. Another part o fthe deal cleare dth eI llinois EPA from admitting any wrongdoing during its review of the project.

Lightfoo ts ettle d the HUD complaint shortly before leaving office.

I nS eptember, M ayor Brandon Johnso npl edged t oo verhaul zoning, planning and land-us eo rdinances that encourage heavy industry to mov eo ut o f pr edominantly white neighborhoods int oo ther parts of Chicago disproportionately burdene dbyp ollutio n,p overty and disease.

City Hall hasn’t followed through o n th ose promises yet.

“We’ve been caught in the middle inac onstant struggle to protect o ur h ealth while industry continue st o pile up in n eighborhoods like mine and while government agencie sc ontinue to rubber stamp permits,” said Cheryl Johnson, executive director o fP eople fo rC ommunity Recovery, anothe rn onprofit gro upb ehind the civil rights complaints.

Said Johnson :“This is a huge ste pinth e right direction that will finally end som eo f th e worst practices o fth e(I llinois EPA) that helpe d cr eate Chicago’s sacrific e zo nes.”