November 29, 2023

Dear friend of the parks,

We have more hopeful news about our fight against the Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) pollution dump on the lakefront!

10th Ward Alderman Chico is on board with us and reinforcing our message to the mayor to shut it down!

The conversion of the CDF pollution dump next to Calumet Park and at the confluence of Lake Michigan and the Calumet River has long been one of the benchmarks toward completion of the lakefront path and park system. The timing of our fight to finally close the dump has converged with a powerful Southeast Side environmental justice movement and a growing group of local and regional allies with which we have been happy to collaborate.

Residents, environmental advocates reject plan for toxic waste dump on Southeast Side | WBBM Newsradio

"Ducks not dumps" is what 10th ward residents and local environmental organizations are saying in response to a planned toxic waste dump on the southeast side...

Lifelong southeast side resident Linda Gonzalez said the area is between two well-loved birding locations and park areas.

"It's really dangerous for us, because there's toxic waste that's stored there and it would be right where we're seeing a lot of shoreline erosion from climate change."

Read more at WBBM Newsradio.

You may remember that we filed a lawsuit in March with Alliance of the Southeast as our co-plaintiffs and Environmental Law and Policy Center as our attorneys. At a May status hearing before the judge, our lawyers confronted the Army Corps of Engineers’ assertions that they could soon move forward to extend the height and the life of the dump, even though they did not have permits from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Our intervention forced them to put off their intended construction start!

Our next status hearing before the judge isn’t until February 2024.

In the meantime, our collective work has been focused on discussing with elected and appointed officials the ways that they could intervene to ensure a sensible, equitable resolution that doesn’t have to wait for our lawsuit to make it all the way through the legal process.

At this point, Mayor Brandon Johnson is the linchpin. The Lightfoot Administration had signed the City on to the CDF expansion project as a cost-share partner. So we are looking for the new mayor to live into his stated environmental justice values and step in to reverse course. He has the power to stop this abomination from moving forward!

As part of the process, Mayor Johnson’s administration directed our coalition to meet with new 10th Ward Alderman Peter Chico. So we did that this summer. And to our very pleasant surprise, he decided that he agrees with us!

In follow up, Alderman Chico sent a letter to the mayor’s office indicating his support of our collective call to shut the CDF down. You can read it here. And at a “Ducks Not Dumps” event hosted earlier this month by the Chicago Bird Alliance, the alderman reiterated his call to stop the Army Corps’ expansion plans and find a better site.

Meanwhile, together with our partners, we have been educating and mobilizing other power brokers who are looking for signals from the mayor that he will support our effort. We understand that there are some elected officials waiting in the wings to make some key moves toward a solution once the mayor says “Go!”

All of this has been happening as the City has been breathing life into a renewed Department of Environment—for which we are grateful. So we know some good work is happening and plates are quite full.

But this is a pivotal moment, and there is no time to waste!

We are so thankful for the many partners who are playing various roles to help keep the pressure on.

Will you help fortify us today as we call upon the City to take this over the finish line ASAP by formally communicating an intention to include the CDF closure, site clean-up, and relocation among its EJ priorities on the Southeast Side? May the mayor make it known today that he wants to shut it down!

Let’s finish this year strong!

In solidarity,

Juanita Irizarry

Executive Director

PS Speaking of finishing this year strong, don’t forget to RSVP to join us this Saturday at noon at our office conference room for our VIP Awards celebration. Among the many amazing stewards and parktivists whose extra special contributions we will recognize, this year we are honoring our partners in the CDF lawsuit with the “Smoky Sakurada” Friends of Friends of the Parks Award. We hope you’ll come thank Alliance of the Southeast, Environmental Law & Policy Center, and our standing witnesses in person. RSVP here today!