Lightfoot orders new study of Southeast Side pollution after Biden EPA and neighborhood activists raise concerns about proposed scrap shredder chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Substantial data indicate the current conditions facing Chicago s Southeast Side epitomize the problem of environmental injustice, resulting from more than a half century of prior actions, Regan said.
The neighborhood ranks at the highest levels for many pollution indicators such as air toxics cancer risk, respiratory hazard, lead paint, hazardous waste proximity and wastewater discharges, according to the EPA chief.
Regan added he believes it s prudent that the city delays a decision on the pending permit until the analysis can be performed.
Later on Friday, Lightfoot released a statement explaining she directed the Chicago Department of Health to initiate an environmental study recommended by the EPA and to push back a decision on issuing the permit.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times file photo
President Joe Biden’s top environmental official told Mayor Lori Lightfoot he has serious concerns about a controversial car-shredding operation proposed for the Southeast Side, prompting the mayor Friday to indefinitely suspend the city’s permit review of the facility until a thorough pollution assessment can be completed to determine the health impacts on the community.
In a letter dated Friday, newly appointed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan told Lightfoot that allowing another polluting business to operate in the area is problematic given the significant environmental hazards that already exist, including poor air quality, and that a study is warranted.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times, Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is seeking more information about the cumulative air pollution around a proposed scrap-metal shredding operation on the Southeast Side, an inquiry that delays the city’s permitting for the controversial business.
The city has been reviewing an operating permit application from Reserve Management Group, which acquired Lincoln Park-based General Iron in 2019. The company has been building a new facility at East 116th Street along the Calumet River to relocate General Iron, as the rebranded Southside Recycling, next to RMG’s existing businesses.
In a letter Monday, a city environmental official told RMG that it requires more information “to properly assess the relationship between and the potential cumulative impact of all Reserve Management Group operations” in the area. Air pollution throughout the Southeast Side is among the worst in the city.
Chicago Residents Urge Court To Block Scrap Metal Move law360.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from law360.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.