Waste in

Chicago Illinois

THIS CASE STUDY WILL FOCUS ON THE

SOUTHSIDE OF CHICAGO, WHERE THE
ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH EFFECTS
OF POOR WASTE MANAGEMENT ARE THE
STRONGEST. THE CALUMET RIVER, THAT RUNS
THROUGH THE SOUTHSIDE, IS AT THE HEART FOR
AIR AND WATER POLLUTION THAT PLAGUES THE
COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING THE RIVER. TODAY,
THERE ARE OVER 100 POLLUTING INDUSTRIES
THAT HAVE BEEN OPERATING FOR DECADES AND
IT IS NOT ACCIDENT THAT THE COMMUNITIES
SURROUNDING THIS RIVER ARE PRIMARILY BLACK
AND LATINO AND LOW INCOME.
THE QUESTION THEN IS, WHICH CAME FIRST, THE
PEOPLE OR THE POLLUTANTS?
 After Jim Crow Laws were established
in the 1870’s, African Americans
migrated to northern states that did
not uphold these laws. One
destination was Chicago for its
plethora of industrial job
opportunities. It is estimated that in
the early 1900’s over 120,000 African
Americans moved here to claim low
wage jobs. Often times African
Americans still experienced high
rates of discrimination in the
workplace and thus were paid less, or
sometimes not at all, compared to
their White counterparts
Spatial segregation intensified in 1927 when the Chicago Real Estate
Board drafted a contract against selling or leasing homes to African
Americans, which was ultimately applied to about 80% of Chicago’s
land. As the housing crisis grew worse, Africans Americans had no
choice but to move into covenanted areas which we “symbols of
state-supported discrimination and highly offensive”.

REDLINING AND WHITE

FLIGHT
As more African Americans moved into communities, White people,
and their taxes, moved out which caused extreme divestment that
only harmed the communities of color. As investments declined,
polluting factories were able to easily purchase land and build
facilities.
The evidence of this blatant
discrimination did not come to light
until the late 1990's and early 2000's
when statistics show that the mean
of toxic release of Chicago industrial
facilities in White majority Chicago
zip codes has trended downwards
since 1990. In an attempt to regulate
pollution, the Illinois Environmental
Justice Act of 2011 was established
but proved to be no help as the
release of toxins steadily increased
in minority communities.
 The polluting factory that is of concern today is General Iron, a
company that shreds cars and other large scrap metals with a
facility located on the north side of Chicago. Residents in the area
have complained of bad odors and noise pollution for the past 20
years it’s been operating.
In 2019, this company was on the verge of moving to the Southside
of Chicago. The reason behind moving the facility is to construct a
“multibillion-dollar Lincoln Yards private real estate development” in
the north side where the demographic is primarily White. This
development would increase the accumulation of wealth in the
already economically desirable neighborhood while the Southside
would become less desirable as another polluting industry would
decrease property values.
The city of Chicago has rejected the new building permit of General
Iron as the mayor rejected all accusations of intentionally placing the
facility in a primarily Black and Latino community. In turn, General Iron
has sued the city for for 100 million dollars for “damages due to the
delay”.
The new proposed location of General Iron will be along the
“Calumet Corridor” river, which is responsible for releasing an
estimated 1 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air every year
due to the 100+ polluting facilities along the river. Thanks to local
activists and community members, they continue to argue against
city officials and demand Chicago change its unlawful zoning and
land-use policies that are currently discriminating against
communities of color.

General Iron
 Calumet Corridor
In 2017 The American Zinc Recycling company, which is also along the
Calumet River, reached a settlement with the EPA regarding accusations
of violations of air pollution laws. Some of the pollutants include
cadmium, naphthalene and ethyl benzene which are all classified as
hazardous air pollutants by the EPA. The company ended up agreeing to
spend $8 million on pollution-control upgrades and pay $530,000 in
fines. This signifies that companies are aware of the harms they are
causing but by paying a fine they can continue to do so.
The Calumet River, which has never been chlorinated, was once of
dumping zone for 109 industrial facilities. More recently in the
Southside, landfills have mounted in the Calumet area that prove to be
most harmful for groundwater and the river water which frequently
enters residents’ homes during rainy seasons. Rainfall in early
September lead to more than three feet of water in residents' basements.
The Calumet City Mayor acknowledges that the city has some of the
oldest sewer systems in the south suburbs as FEMA was already in the
area helping residents recover from a flood in June and July. There is
clearly a lack of investment in sewer systems, but also in the ways in
which the neighborhoods were built in a floodplain. People reported that
this was the third time flood water has seeped into their home in three
months.
Even though a large amount of polluting facilities had been shut down
thanks to the help of community activists who have protested and
staged hunger strikes, the possibility of hazardous chemicals and oil
leaching into waterways is still highly likely due to the decades of
environmental abuse.
Dangers of Waste
Lead poisoning
1 out of 6 children in Chicago face serious
illnesses from lead consumption

Increased levels of of asthma, cancer,

and other autoimmune disorders
The life expectancy is 10-13 years shorter
compared to those in neighboring zip codes

Excessive flooding in low income

neighborhoods
 Changing the
Future of Waste
in Chicago
Keeping the conversation
going
Calling on city planners
and officials to change
where facilities are being
built
Supporting environmental
justice groups and
protests, perhaps gaining
national attention
Educating oneself and
peers on the uneven
distribution of pollution
Through complex social, economic,
and political systems we can see
that people of color did not
intentionally move into areas with
higher levels of pollution, but rather
they were consolidated into
communities which made moving
the pollution to them easier.