City of Chicago Enters Negotiations with HUD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Carlos Enriquez, CEJN, cenriquez@chicagoejn.org 815-342-5717
Ivan Moreno, NRDC, imoreno@nrdc.org, 773-799-6455
Lightfoot Administration to Enter into Settlement Discussions with HUD over Environmental Racism Dispute
CHICAGO (Oct. 20, 2022) -- The City of Chicago has agreed to begin settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over a civil rights complaint triggered by the proposed move of the General Iron facility out of Lincoln Park and into the Southeast Side. After the City initial response that disputed HUD’s findings, advocates say this reversal in approach could reflect a significant shift from the City’s previous hard-line responses to the federal agency.
The Chicago Southeast Side groups that filed the civil rights complaint pointed to decades of racist zoning and land use policies that have furthered segregation and kept communities of color saturated with toxic industry.
HUD released findings in July of this year on their investigation that confirmed the basis of the civil rights complaint. The federal agency could withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding if the city refuses to cooperate with the investigation process.
The Following is a joint statement from Southeast Environmental Task Force, People For Community Recovery, and Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke:
“The City needs to get real about fixing a system that has created sacrifice zones in Black and Latino neighborhoods.
“The massive metal shredding facility is still in place and the threat of General Iron still hangs over our heads. It needs to be deconstructed and we need to make fundamental reforms to the racist systems that allowed toxic polluters to amass in neighborhoods like ours.
“The findings of the investigation show a reality that communities live with and can’t simply be swept under the rug. We are also exhausted from having to push and fight with city officials to take us seriously and stop putting the interest of polluting industry over the health of Chicagoans.”
###
