MEDIA ADVISORY AND DAYBOOK ITEM FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 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
800 Days After Botched Implosion in Little Village; Residents, Community Orgs and Ald. Rodriguez Call for Full Report Release
Wednesday, Residents of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood will hold a press conference together with Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd Ward) and community organizations after the Lightfoot administration has withheld the full report investigating the botched Hilco implosion, an environmental disaster that covered the community with toxic dust in April of 2020, more than 800 days ago.
Alderperson Michael D. Rodriguez introduced a resolution to City Council on January 26, 2022 requesting that the Corporation Counsel release the Office of Inspector General's report regarding Crawford Power Plant demolition. As of June 28, 2022, the full investigation report has not been released. Little Village residents have stated that in order to help their neighbors and community heal from Hilco’s actions and the City's failure to protect them, they are asking for the City of Chicago to commit to full transparency by scheduling a hearing on the resolution to release the full OIG report.
Advocates are calling for accountability and for a response from the Lightfoot administration to release and act on former Inspector General Fergurson's report that recommends strong consequences for public officials involved in greenlighting the implosion.
When: Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 9:15am CST
Where: For recording, email carlos@setaskforce.org
Speakers:
• Moderator: Edith Tovar, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
• Michael Rodriguez, Alderperson of the 22nd Ward
• Kim Wasserman, Executive Director, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
• Ana Solano, Unete La Villita
• Emily Martinez, (Vecinos de Mi Villita) Mi Villita Neighbors
Demands:
- Mayor Lightfoot utilize city code 2-66-110/Subsection B to release the full Inspector General Report.
- 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 and Commissioners should resign!
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