MEDIA ADVISORY AND DAYBOOK ITEM FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022
Contacts:
Edith Tovar, Community Organizer, LVEJO | Cell: 312.612.9256 | etovar@lvejo.org Kimberly Wasserman, Executive Director, LVEJO | Cell: 708.793.7210 | Office: 773.762.6991
Carlos Enriquez, Communications Director, CEJN | Cell: 815.342.5717 | carlos@setaskforce.org
Ivan Moreno, NRDC | Cell: 773.799.6455 | imoreno@nrdc.org
Little Village Residents Say City’s Neglect Led to Tragedy from Hilco Implosion
Monday, Little Village community members will be joined by Environmental Justice advocates to address new reports that the city of Chicago ignored concerns about the Hilco demolition of the former Crawford Coal Plant. According to the latest findings, a former city of Chicago official warned higher ups of the possible dangers of the implosion seven months prior to the April 2020 environmental disaster that covered the Little Village community in smoke and ash.
This latest report comes just weeks after the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Exchange 55 warehouse. The warehouse, which is leased by Target, stands on the site of the former Crawford Coal Plant.
During the press conference, advocates will take a moment to pay respects to the family of Fernando Cantú, the 78-year-old grandfather who lived three blocks from Crawford and passed away early Sunday morning.
Advocates will also call for major changes to environmental policy, following the decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the city of Chicago had acted in racially discriminatory ways in regard to their land use and zoning policies.
When: Monday, August, 8, 2022 at 9:30am - 10:00am CST Where: Zoom
Speakers:
• Moderator: Edith Tovar, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
• Kim Wasserman, Executive Director, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
• Olga Bautista, Executive Director, Southeast Environmental Task Force
• Howard Ehrman, (Vecinos de Mi Villita) Mi Villita Neighbors
Demands:
- Corporation Counsel release the Office of Inspector General's report regarding Crawford Power Plant demolition.
- The fees that Hilco paid the City of Chicago should be used to install & maintain permanent publicly accessible air monitoring systems.
- The City of Chicago and Hilco should pay and maintain air filtration systems to the homes directly impacted.
- The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) should complete new soil study, create a remediation plan, and install & maintain permanent air monitoring systems around Exchange 55 & impacted areas.
- CDPH (& DOB) has indicated that they disagree with the IG’s report and that negligent staff will only receive a written reprimand, What training have they completed to make sure Chicago residents are safe? Staffers at CDPH should be fired and Commissioner Arwady should resign!
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Los residentes de La Villita dicen que la negligencia de la ciudad condujo a la tragedia de la implosión de Hilco
El lunes, los miembros de la comunidad de La Villita se unirán a los defensores de la justicia ambiental para abordar los nuevos informes de que la ciudad de Chicago ignoró las preocupaciones sobre la demolición de Hilco de la antigua planta de carbón Crawford. Según los últimos hallazgos, un exfuncionario de la ciudad de Chicago advirtió a los altos mandos sobre los posibles peligros de la implosión siete meses antes del desastre ambiental de abril de 2022 que cubrió la comunidad de La Villita con humo y cenizas.
Este último informe llega pocas semanas después del primer aniversario de la apertura del almacén Exchange 55. El almacén, que está alquilado por Target, se encuentra en el sitio de la antigua planta de carbón de Crawford.
Durante la conferencia de prensa, los defensores se tomarán un momento para presentar sus respetos a la familia de Fernando Cantú, el abuelo de 78 años que vivía a tres cuadras de Crawford y falleció la madrugada del domingo.
Los defensores también pedirán cambios importantes en la política ambiental, luego de la decisión del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los EE. UU. de que la ciudad de Chicago había actuado de manera racialmente discriminatoria con respecto a sus políticas de zonificación y uso de la tierra.
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