Southeast Side Group Statement on “Zombie” General Iron Facility
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Olga Bautista, Director of Southeast Environmental Task Force, 773-712-4956
Carlos Enriquez, CEJN, carlos@setaskforce.org 815-342-5717
Ivan Moreno, NRDC, imoreno@nrdc.org, 773-799-6455
Activists Urge City to Dismantle “Zombie” Southeast Side General Iron Facility in Addition to North Side Location
CHICAGO (Nov. 18, 2022) -- Environmental and grassroots activists are calling on City of Chicago officials to begin the process of dismantling the massive General Iron metal shredding facility that was built but never permitted to operate on the Southeast Side.
Community discussions are kicking off today on the demolition of General Iron’s Lincoln Park facility in an effort to create more transparency and to avoid a disaster similar to the demolition of the former Crawford coal plant in the city’s Little Village neighborhood.
Chicago officials have not ordered the Southeast Side General Iron facility to be dismantled despite damning findings from a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development civil rights investigation that found racial discrimination in the city’s actions regarding the proposed relocation of General Iron and the City’s current and historic zoning laws and land use policies.
The following is a statement from the Southeast Environmental Task Force, People for Community Recovery and The Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke :
“Our community remains traumatized by the fight against General Iron. It took a hunger strike to even get the attention of our elected officials here in Chicago. We don’t want to have to put our lives on the line to stop General Iron from coming back online. We want this zombie facility dismantled now.”
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