Foxconn project impact
Illinois legislators ask Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to review effect on environment.
MADISON – Illinois congressional Democrats have asked Wisconsin’s new Democratic governor to re-evaluate the environmental impact of a sprawling plant that Foxconn Technology Group plans to build near the states’ border, saying they are concerned it could exacerbate flooding in Chicago’s northern suburbs.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth along with Reps. Brad Schneider and Lauren Underwood sent Gov. Tony Evers a letter on Friday saying stormwater run-off from the plant would drain into the Des Plaines River watershed and could worsen flooding in Illinois’ Lake County, which covers the northeastern corner of Illinois and is just north of Cook County, which includes Chicago.
The Lake County Board, the county’s Stormwater Management Commission and several Lake County towns have passed resolutions disapproving of the project, the Illinois lawmakers wrote, noting that the Illinois state Senate also adopted a resolution urging Wisconsin officials to reconsider the project’s environmental and health impacts.
“We ask that you submit forthcoming construction plans to stringent environmental review,” they wrote. “Economic development is a top priority in our region, and it does not have to come at the cost of environmental degradation.”
Evers’ spokeswoman, Melissa Baldauff, didn’t immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment. Foxconn spokeswoman Myranda Tanck also didn’t immediately respond to an email.
Foxconn plans to build a flat-screen manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant, approximately 70 miles north of Chicago.
Local officials and Republican state lawmakers – led by then-Gov. Scott Walker – extended the company an unprecedented $4 billion in incentives to lure the plant to Wisconsin.
The package exempted Foxconn from a host of environmental regulations, allowing to the company to fill wetlands without a permit and to proceed without an environmental impact statement, which is a typically routine study of a construction project’s potential effects on the environment.