Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration refused to issue that permit after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said the proposal raised “significant civil rights concerns.” In February 2022, Chicago Department of Public Health officials determined the operation posed an “unacceptable risk” to the health of Southeast Side residents and rejected the permit after conducting a health impact assessment.
Firm officials have repeatedly said Southside Recycling would be the most “environmentally conscious metal recycling facility in the country.” After the Lightfoot administration rejected the permit, Regan hailed the city’s decision as an example of “environmental justice” made possible by government officials working together “to protect vulnerable communities from pollution in their backyards.”
Opponents of the proposed facility said moving the metal scrapper from Lincoln Park, where a majority of residents are wealthy and White, to the Southeast Side, which is home to a majority of Latino residents and dozens of other polluting businesses, was a clear example of environmental racism. The city’s appeal will also cite records that show more than 250 operations on the Southeast Side have been investigated by the EPA for polluting the air with fine particulate matter that has been linked to a higher risk of cancer as well as respiratory disease, Johnson said. Other environmental issues in the neighborhood include heavy truck traffic and hazardous waste sites that are polluted with lead paint and wastewater, according to a letter from Regan.
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