CBA Record July-August 2021

A Tree (Tries to) Grow in Chicago: Advocating for Environmental Justice By Carolyn Amadon, CBA Record Editorial Board

CBA President E. Lynn Grayson introduced a recent panel discussion, Environmental Justice: Its Impact on Local Underserved Communities, co-sponsored by the CBA and YLS Environmental Committees and the Racial Justice Coalition. Panelists discussed how they have advocated for environmental justice through community activism, legal representation, and agency or regulatory measures.

Environmental Toxins Linked to Pre- matureDeaths andHealthProblems Kim Wasserman, Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), described efforts challenging the dumping of environmen- tal pollutants and toxins associated with a nearby coal plant linked to 40 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2800 asthma attacks per year. A 2013 winner of the Goldman Envi- ronmental Prize, Wasserman led residents to shut down the Fisk and Crawford coal plants that rained down pollutants over the community – resulting in severe health issues for predominantly Latino residents and their children. Wasserman continues to fight for parks and green spaces for Little Village and to advocate for direct bus routes to the lake front. The attempts to discount the environ- mental justice and safety of Little Village residents are ongoing, as LVEJO andWas- serman demonstrate that environmental advocacy plays the long game. It took 12 years to shut down the coal power plants; 23 years to designate former industrial land for the La Villita Park; and 12 years to open the Semillas de Justicia Garden. LVEJO is challenging the proposed conversion of a site to install a big box retail warehouse that will drastically increase diesel fuel emissions from trucks into a neighborhood already suffering negative respiratory impacts from air pol- lution. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, on April 11, 2020, a developer in Little Village imploded an industrial smokestack on a site with no notice to residents. The toxic debris covered several blocks. With

all the success of these campaigns, the legacy of toxins remains in Little Village, and the quest for environmental justice continues. Already-Contaminated Air in Red- linedNeighborhoodWouldbe Exac- erbated by New Facility Nancy Loeb, Director, Environmental Advocacy Clinic, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Clinical Professor at Northwestern Pritz- ker School of Law, addressed the question of what to do when the air in a redlined neighborhood is so full of contaminants that a school was found to have the worst air pollution in Illinois – and the city wants to move a known pollutant metal scrapping facility into the same Southeast Side neighborhood. Loeb advocates for the Southeast Side Coalition to block the permit to move the General Iron industrial facility from the upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood to the Southeast Side of Chicago. The former site of a steel plant in a neighborhood had been redesignated as a “receiving zone” for the new location of General Iron. Neigh- borhood residents are overwhelmingly people of color. Across the street from the proposed location, the local elemen- tary and high school were shown by air monitoring to have the highest level of pollution in Illinois. Loeb stated that, by nature of the burden on people of color, regardless of intent, the proposed move of General Iron to the Southeast Side demonstrates unjust disparate impact and constitutes environmental racism. No new jobs would result from moving the plant. Over 30 experts, 750 doctors, and 250

medical students signed petitions pleading with the City not to grant a construction permit. As of May 10, 2021, the City has delayed the permit process to allow the EPA to conduct further pollution studies in the area. This win was credited to the work of activists around the city, including Loeb and her team. Agency Programs Assist Residents’ Actions to Prevent Neighborhood Pollution Chris Pressnall, Environmental Justice Coordinator at Illinois EPA, and Alan Walts, Director, Tribal and Multi-media Programs Office at US EPA Region 5, addressed the question of what to do when residents suspect that polluting facilities are in or coming to their neighborhood. Pressnall andWalts discussed the map- ping, permitting process, and outreach that state and federal EPA offices offer. Both agencies have developed enhanced mapping tools to help determine areas of concern for communities suffering disproportionate impact from harmful emissions, flood zones, landfills, toxins, and climate change factors. Environmental justice offices at state and federal EPA agencies also focus on outreach to traditionally underserved communities by translating notices into local languages and forming roundtables with key community stakeholders to pro- mote culturally appropriate remediation. From a process standpoint, panelists noted that no statute mandates a “notice and comment” period for pending per- mits. This is notable because in some

10 July/August 2021