The Washington Post - USA (2021-10-23)

A12 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 , 2021

ment of newshops, restaurants,

office buildings, luxurycondo-

miniums,playgroundsandscenic

views of theChicagoRiver.

“It’sabout the factthatyou can

takesomething fromacommuni-

ty whereit’s not wanted, for all

the reasons it’s not wanted there,

and build [it] here,”said Peggy

Salazar,who has lived in

Hegewisch for nearly four dec-

ades.

Black, Latino and American

Indian communities across the

countrycontinue to feel targeted

and expected to carryaheavier

burden no matter the conse-

quences. In NorthCharleston,

S.C., hundreds of people in a

mostly Black communitycould

lose their homes if afreeway

interchangeise xpanded.In Dal-

las,amountainoftoxicwasterose

illegally on the edgeofaBlack

neighborhood and tookextraor-

dinarypressure togetremoved.

Then there’s Chicago, which

has one of the biggest disparities

in neighborhood lifeexpectancy

in theUnited States.

“The cityofChicag ohas long

usedtheSoutheastSideandother

lower-income communities of

color...as dumping grounds for

heavy and dirty indu stries,”said

NancyLoeb, director ofNorth-

western University’sEnviron-

mental AdvocacyCenter.

But thefight inHegewisch has

played out differently than most

previous battles. Though Reserve

Management Group is ready to

switch on its new$80 million

Southside Recycling facility—

built in proximitytoahigh

school, elementaryschool and

sprawling playground —resi-

dents’ opposition has helped to

delayits final permits.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), who

mustdecide whether to approve

or refuse those permits, is caught

in amaelstrom of politics, law-

suits and federal investigations.

TheDepartment ofHousing and

Urban Development launched a

civil rights probe lastfall into the

city’s preliminaryapproval of

cons truction permits for the

scrap yard, and this spring the

EnvironmentalProtection Agen-

cy asked local officials to do a

comprehensivestudy of its “ag-

gregate potential healtheffects.”

Both arestill pending.

Formanyinthe community,

the relocated operation became

their figurative line in the sand.It

brought together older activists

likeSalazarandyoungeroneslike

Chavez, who were willing to risk

their health for the cause.Their

hungerstrikedrewglobal media

attention andavisit from EPA

Adm inistrator Michael Regan.

Chavezjoinedthestrikeinpart

forpersonalreasons.Asagirl,she

had marveledat how theNorth

Side, with its running trails along

the ChicagoRiver and views of

the cityskyline fromLake Michi-

gan’s shoreline, contrasted with

Southeast’spolluted Calumet

River.Anarea known as the Calu-

metIndustrial Corridor includes

chemical factories, plastics man-

ufacturers, paint companies,

landfills, recycling and waste

management plants,railways.

Protesters engaged with pas-

sion and zeal.Even whenamedi-

cal team advised hungerstrikers

to quit as their action entered a

fifthweek, Chavez voted to press

on.

“Iwasatpeace,” the27-year-old

pre-medstudent said, “with po-

tentially dying for this.”

T

here’s aplace on the South-

eastSide’sshorewhereOlga

Bautista can almostforget

about the factories.

She hopped in her SUV on a

warm dayand drove easton

SouthAvenue OtoCalumetPark,

an expansive recreation area

alongLake Michigan.Thewind

played in her hair as shestood

near the water’s edge. Buteven

this oasis is no longer untouched.

Agrainyblack substance dark-

ened the waves licking the shore.

It left thin rows of residue on the

wetsand.

Bautistastudiedthesubstance,

then looked toward the mills,

warehouses and smokestacks in

thedistance. Aworri ed look

flas hed across her face.Her

young daughter was in the water

takingaswimming lesson.

Formore thanacentury, this

sectionofthecitywashometothe

powerful but dirty steel mills that

helped build America.As U.S.

Steel and other industrytitans

fadedaway in th eearly 1990s,

resi dents hoped the pollution

they had endured would also

fade.Yetofficials simply allowed

in more industry.

Twoyears ago,aNew York

Universityhealthstudy showed

the long-term repercussions. Re-

searchers founda30-year ga pin

life expectancybetween two

neighborhoods on Chicago’s

Northand South sides —the

largestdisparityofthe country’s

500 biggest cities.

When Salazar moved to South-

eastin1983, intoalittle house

with amanicured yard, she knew

SCRAPYARD FROM A

bulk open-airstorag efacilities

were onlyafew blocksaway.“I

didn’t think theywouldimpact

me.”

She was wrong.

Over time, she realized the

wind was lifting hazardous ma-

terial offgiant piles at ware-

houses and sprinkling it on her

neighborhoodlikepowderedsug-

ar onacake. One day, aneighbor

marveledat the dark, rich dirt

thatclung toarag whenever she

dusted.

“It’snot di rt,” Salazar said. “It’s

fugitive dustthat’sgettinginto

your house.”

As herconcerns about pollu-

tion grew, Salazarjoined what

became the SoutheastEnviron-

mentalTask Force and entered its

war againstcityplanning and

zoning officials.

“I had hoped to bring about

some transitioning intoagreener

kind of community, but it’s abig

lift, ”Salazar,68, said recently.

After serving as the task force’s

executive director for about a

decade, shestepped down inJuly.

Bautista, 42 , will lead the

chargemoving forward.

She dreams of bringing green

manufacturers into Hegewisch,

as happened seven milesaway in

thePullman community, where

the Method soap companyisg o-

ing strong with wind turbines,

solar panels anda75,000-foot

gree nroofwith pesticide-free

vegetable garden.

“Myfight is not withGeneral

Iron,”said Bautista, who worked

with other activists and lawyers

at theGreaterChicagoLegalClin-

ic to file the complaint thattrig-

gered HUD’sinvestigation.“My

fight is with the cityofChicago.

They’vesaid alot of wonderful,

beautiful things about whatthey

prioritize, andIwant to see that.”

H

ow didascrap yard with a

problematic environmen-

tal record—constant noise

violations, multiplefires, even

explosions—get the permits al-

lowing it to shifttoa nother part

of Chicago?

GeneralIron Industries oper-

ated nearlyacenturyinLincoln

Park, taking the rebar,typewrit-

ers, washing machines, cars,

scooters and other scrap metal

thatjunkmen had collected from

alleys or demolition companies.

It transformed thatintoraw,us-

able steel.

But the more affluent its sur-

roundings became, the more the

scrap yardstood out. By 2017,its

owners were under siege.

SteveJoseph watched its last

days.Joseph, chiefexecutive of

ReserveManagement Group, as-

pired toexpand his company’s

recycling compoundnear

Hegewisch and covetedGeneral

Iron.

Given its troubles,Joseph said

in an interview, he figured the

ownersmightsellatalowerprice.

As RMG bartered for the scrap

yard, it also negotiated with then-

Mayor Rahm Emanuel to close

the LincolnPark operation and

buildanew one to the south.

“Theydidn’t tell us to put it

here,”Joseph said,“but we asked

them, ‘If we put it here, will you

work with us?’ and the answer

was yes.”

Thetwo companies publicly

unveiledtheirnewpartnershipin

July 2018 and simultaneously an-

nounced thatthe “recycling cen-

ter”would be relocated. Thenew

facility, theynoted, would “revi-

talize the CalumetRegion with

jobs and business opportunities

whileimprovingtheenvironmen-

tal health and safety of the region

and showcasing sustainable de-

velopment.”

Hegewisch erupted.Even Lin-

coln Park residents who pushed

for GeneralIron’s exit were flab-

bergasted.

“Our motto was comply or

goodbye,”said Lara Compton,

one of the leaders of theNorth

Side environmental groupClean

the NorthBranch. “Wefelt

strongly...thatifGeneral Iron

couldn’t comply on the North

Side, then it wouldn’t be able to

comply anywhere in the city.”

Formore thantwoyears, the

RMG/General Iron venture

seemed on track, despite Emanu-

el’s announcement in September

2018 thathewould not seek re-

election.Thepermit process con-

tinuedamidprotests,andinearly

2019, the newventure wonlocal

approval to use equipment for a

newshredder on the South Side.

Lightfoot became Chicago’s

firstfemale African American

mayor thatspring. Several

months after she took office —

after campaigning as an environ-

ment-friendly candidate—the

cityentered into an agreement

with RMG thatcleared the way

for the shredder’s relocation.As

of lastfall, her administration

was still supporting RMG.

Yetthe circumstances under

which the citygranted the per-

mits under both Emanuel and

Lightfoot were so questionable

thatHUD launchedaprobe fo-

cused on possible violations of

the federalFair Housing Act.This

January, thefederalEPAbeganan

investigationof thestateenviron-

mental agency’sseparateapprov-

al of aconstruction permit.

The$80 millionstructure con-

tinues to sit idle. Lightfoot de-

clined to be interviewed for this

article but said inastatement

thather administration is com-

mittedtobothspurringeconomic

growthandimprovingairquality.

After the EPAadministrator’s

visit inMay—when Regan asked

Lightfoot to delayher final re-

view, citing the“environmental

justiceimplications”—RMGfiled

twolawsuits in federal andstate

courts for $100 million in damag-

es.

Afederal judgethrew out the

case.Astate judgeallowed the

companytocontinue seeking

monetarydamages with its claim

thatthe city’saction posed “an

existential threattoRMG’sexis-

tence, and its employees,”not ju st

in Chicagobut nationwide.

“Wenever would have closed

this purchaseand neverdonethis

deal and never spentadime on it

if we didn’t have thatagreement

with the citythattook sometime

over ayear to negotiate,”Joseph

said.

“It’sawishofthe Bidenadmin-

istr ation to changeenvironmen-

tal policy, and I’mall for that,”he

said. “But he can’t changethe

rules of the game after the game

has been played.”

F

orthehungerstrikers,itwas

no game.

Óscar Sanchez, who di-

rects youth and restorative jus-

tice programs foralocal nonprof-

it, was livid over the scrap shred-

der’s arrival in his community.

BiologyteacherChuck Stark was

angrybecause it satacross the

streetfromhisstudentsatGeorge

WashingtonHigh School.

BothSanchez,24,andStark,37,

were among thefirstvolunteers

when discussions aboutahunger

strikebegan.

Sanchez stepped forward in

memoryofhis grandfather,who

sufferedfromarespiratoryillness

thatcontributed to his death

from covid lastyear,and for a

brother who has asthma.

Hisagony started within days,

herecalled.Hehadmigrainesand

lagging energy. He was so hungry

thatattimes “it felt likemy

stomach was trying to eatitself.”

Chavez became partofthe

strikeaweekafteritbegan.Byher

third week, she was drained and

depressed and periodically felt

faint. Still, she vowed not to quit.

“ShouldIhavetof ace the same

pollution thatmymom andmy

grandfather had to deal with in

the ’70s?” Chavez asked.“Will my

kids have to face thatsame pollu-

tion?”

Theeffort, which lasted about

amonth, fell shortofthe

prime objective:ameeting

with Lightfoot. “Weliterally

thought we would die before the

mayor would do anything,”

Chavez said.

They nowmustwait for the

completion of the city’senviron-

mentalstudyandthenLightfoot’s

decision. Sanchez is sure other

companies in Chicagoalso are

waiting,“tose ewhattheycanand

can’t getawaywith.”

Ifthe scrap yard facilitygets

final approval, it would beagut

punch for the community. But

people are prepared to hit back,

he explained.

“We’regoing tofight,”hesaid.

“Wehavenothingelse to lose.”

[email protected]

[email protected]

PHOTOS BY JAMIE KELTER DAVIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

On Chicago’s South Side,

fight against ‘dumping grounds’

Lake

Michigan

Original

loc ation

of scrapyard

MMMiiiiiidddddwwwwwaaaay

IIIIttt.Airpoort

Relocatedin

the southeast,

but awaiting

permit to operate.

Lincoln

Park

Hegewisch

Downtown

CHICCCCCC AAAAAGGGO

South

Deering

5MILES

Scrapyardrelocation

50% 100%

Hispanic

50% 100%

White

Majority share

of population

50% 100%

Black

Other race

Ametal scrapyardoperatedby ReserveManagementGroup and General

Iron has beenrelocated fromapredominantlyWhite neighborhood to a

predominantly Black and Hispanic area.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau HANNAHDORMIDO/THEWASHINGTON POST

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TOP:OlgaBautista,seenatCalumetBeachonL akeMichigan,filedacomplaintwithotheractivistsandlawyersthattriggeredan

investi gationint otheapprovalofametalscrapyardonChicago’sSoutheastSide.LEFT: Acarandapplianceshreddersitsinthenew

scrapyardfacilityawaitingfinalper mit s.CEN TER:Pre-medstudent Yesenia Chavezparticipatedinamonth-longhunger striketo

protes tthescrapyard’sconstructionnearhercommunity.RIGHT:HomesundertheChicagoSkywayont hecity’sSouthSide.

“ThecityofChicagohaslongusedtheSoutheastSideandotherlower-income

communitiesofcolor...asdumpinggroundsforheavyanddirtyindustries.”

NancyLoeb, directorofNorthwesternUniversity’sEnvironmentalAdvocacyCenter