Block Club Chgo: State Says South Lakefront Dump Site Can Operate For Another Year As Army Corps Pursues Decades-Long Expansion

 Earlier in the fall I waded into the debate over a potential move by the Chicago Bears from Soldier Field. I suggested perhaps the Bears can build a new stadium at the former US Steel site "South Works" near 87th and the lakefront. Well here's some new news about this parcel which is still looking for solid development.

The state says a south lakefront dump site can operate for another year as the Army Corps pursues a decades-long expansion. https://t.co/Wz950uzFwt pic.twitter.com/IVeRBdZ5n1

— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) December 15, 2021

State environmental regulators allowed a lakefront dump for polluted sediment to continue operating for another year, as the federal government awaits the state’s decision on long-term plans to expand the facility.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency approved a water pollution permit Friday for a “dredged material disposal facility” neighboring Calumet Park at the mouth of the Calumet River.

The 43-acre site, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, stores sediment dredged from the Calumet River and five other federally maintained waterways in the city. Its permit was approved Friday and expires Nov. 30.

The Army Corps partially shut down the dump earlier this year, after its prior water pollution permit expired May 31.

A public input process led to special conditions on the new permit. They include a requirement that the Army Corps study whether the site could introduce more mercury and other toxic chemical compounds into the local food web.

But even with special conditions, “it’s still a permit to allow some level of pollution in a community that’s already overburdened,” said Kiana Courtney, staff attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Read more at Block Club Chicago. 

Stossel: Coronavirus cans the bag ban (taxes)

[VIDEO] Grocery stores and pharmacies are considered essential business as people still want to pick up prescriptions and over the counter medication. People also still have to eat and while many restaurants are open for take out orders only, your best bet is still go to the grocery store and find your ingredients so that you can cook.

I noted this a while ago in a post about coronavirus numbers and the effect of the pandemic on "essential" retail. A few grocery stores aren't allowing for the usage of re-usable bags I know for sure the Jewel-Osco, Whole Foods Market, and Target if you go to a cashier they won't package your items in your reusable bags.

Personally reusable bags are very convenient, however, what's noted in this John Stossel video is that there are many of us who don't take the time out to clean them. Sometimes I throw them in the washers, however, sometimes it's just something that I don't take the time to do. If you don't clean them then you could be carrying microbes on your reusable bags that are often dangerous.

Stossel takes aim at the attempts by governments around the nation to ban plastic bags. Chicago has asserted a 7 cent bag tax to encourage use of reusable bags. It's understood that they want to discourage use of those plastic "Jewel" bags. Unfortunately whether or not you use a "Jewel" bag or a paper bag, you still get charged a 7 cent tax. And paper is not only better for the environment not only because they are reusable (even if fragile as you see in video above) they are also recyclable, yet if we use a paper bag from a store we STILL get charged a tax.

Another thing of note is that while Whole Foods, Target, and Jewel that I know of for sure seemed to have waived collecting the city' bag tax. If you go to Mariano's and use a bag with them they will still charge you the 7 cent tax.

In my opinion, who knows if this is going away. Since the pandemic has caused the shut down of many businesses, surely tax revenues are down. Since in many places there is already a bag tax enacted, my idea is this is one convenient tax that won't go away. Especially since people during this difficult time still got to go out to shop for "essential" items.

Any other retailer - especially grocery stores - still charging you the 7 cent bag tax? Let us know...

Capitol Fax: Because… Chicago!

What if you did your shopping in the suburbs to avoid the city bag tax only to find out that the state passed its own bag tax? It's been in the news as a proposal so far, and for some it had the added intent of reducing usage of plastic bags in Chicago.

Because… Chicago! https://t.co/aJQ1us5wqx

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 14, 2019

If you're tired off all these taxes then there's this from Rich Miller:

In the end, this bag tax might very well turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth.

What the post is about is passing a statewide bag tax, then allowing Chicago to keep our own bag tax. It seems downstate politicians take an issue with Chicago not being included in this new tax. 

Reader: There goes the Englewood neighborhood

Quote from Joravsky's Reader article

Ben Joravsky writes about the rail yard expansion in Englewood:

At the moment, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's most ambitious economic development plan for Englewood is the expansion of an intermodal freight yard, where metal containers will be loaded from trains to trucks and vice versa. It's a loud, smelly operation that will have diesel-spewing locomotives and trucks rolling into the area day and night.

The current freight yard runs from 47th to 55th, roughly between Wallace and Eggleston. The expansion will take it south five blocks to 61st Street.

So the northeast corner of Englewood—a swath of land nearly two miles long and a quarter-mile wide—will be dedicated to a freight yard pumping smoke, soot, and other pollutants into the lungs, blood, and hearts of everyone in the surrounding neighborhood.

Norfolk Southern, the Virginia-based rail company that's developing the project, says the freight yard will be a boon for the city, creating several hundred jobs. Maybe so.

But it's the sort of large-scale, environmentally dubious endeavor you'd hope the city would sign on to only after careful independent analysis. Then we could determine—or at least discuss—whether the jobs are worth the health costs.

But so far the city's health department has commissioned no studies.

Just imagine if this were being proposed for the north side. I know—not in a million years. Still, think about it in relation to the recently completed brouhaha over Wrigley Field. The back-and-forth between the Rickettses and the locals dragged on for months as they wrestled over such monumental issues as how big the left-field sign should be.

This is something you should finish reading.

Vote for Cottage Grove Planters Project in Pepsi's Refresh Project!

From the founder of Cottage Grove Planters

The Cottage Grove Planters Project that I spearhead has been selected for the Pepsi Refresh Project Grant Contest. If we get enough votes, the Cottage Grove Planters Society could win $5,000 to continue the work of planting flowers and installing student's artwork on the sides of the large planter pots that line Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.


Please vote for this community beautification project. That money will help us purchase flowers and ensure that 13 more public schools can participate in improving their environment.
Simply go to: http://www.refresheverything.com/. If you have a facebook account, just click that to log in, if not you have to create a Pepsi account.

Click the "Communities" tab at the top and then select the $5,000.00 category and then click "Near You" on the drop down tab by "Shuffled Ideas" Look for "Beautify and add children's artwork to the Cottage Grove Planters"Then just click "Vote for This".

Please help us by voting for us, emailing this message to everyone you know and asking them to vote for us and remember, everyone can vote up to 3 times a day. If you buy Pepsi products, you can get up to 100 extra votes to use to vote for us with a unique "Power Vote" code found under the cap of specially-marked Pepsi bottles and specially-marked Pepsi 12 pack and 24 pack can packaging.
Thanking you in advance,

Leiana J. Thomas Gary, Founder

http://www.cottagegroveplanters.org/

It would be great if we could win it! It was ranked #12 as of Wednesday night.

Alderman Lyle's Green Initiative Part I- Aquaponics at Chicago State University

Chicago State University recently announced the completion of its new aquaponics system that will provide research and educational opportunities, as well as address environmental and urban challenges facing Chicago’s South Side.

CSU’s aquaponics facility features four 750-gallon tanks, six grow beds with traversing lights and a three-acre site for outdoor plots for sustainable fuel research and gardens. This innovative program will be unveiled to CSU students, faculty and local business and community leaders on Tuesday, August 17 at the Aquaponics Facility, which is located at 9601 S. Cottage Grove Avenue.

Aquaponics is an integrative process that combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (raising plants in water instead of soil). Plants and fish cultivate in a recirculation environment in which nutrients-enriched effluent, or water from the fish, is used as fertilizer for the plants within the facility. As the plants take in the nutrients to fuel their own rapid growth, the water’s toxicity for the fish is reduced or eliminated. Clean, nutrient free water is then returned to the fish environment, and the cycle continues supporting the growth of both fish and plants. The relationship between the fish and the plants creates a waste-less environment; nearly every part of the project is self-sustaining and thus environmentally friendly.

More on the program at http://www.csu.edu/news/aquaponics.htm

Alderman Lyle and outgoing Alderman Shiller worked diligently on bringing this to our community. Per Alderman Lyle she will give us more details on this project and future projects.

The Historical Bugalow and Green Home Expo

I attended the Historical Bungalow ad Green Home Expo today held at the Merchandise Mart. There was a lot of info on restoring bungalows as well as making them energy efficient. I was pleasantly surprised to see a local business there. Here are some products and services that stood out and require further investigation

Chatham Paint and Supply- local paint store http://www.chathampaint.com/
The Glam Can- Indoor/Outdoor mountable trash receptable http://www.theglamcan.com/
Molly Meyer- Green roof contactor/consultant http://www.mollymeyer.com/
Tankless Water Heater- hot product at show http://www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com/

All the vendors listed above are available to come out for presentations.

Congressman Jackson Can Keep Our Lake Healthy

Mechanics:

The "Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives" campaign wants you to call 2nd District Congressman Jesse Jackson, who has decent seniority on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and ask him to support President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The campaign provides "5 Reasons Why Congressman Jackson should support" the initiative. I don't doubt that our readers will have several reasons why they think he shouldn't; and I think the number one reason will rhyme with "bexploding neficits".

Read the rest!

Chicago's car-sharing under serve communities of color

Chi-Town Daily News:

Between I-GO and Zipcar, there are 531 vehicles in 303 locations within Chicago city limits. Seven I-GO cars — three percent of the I-GO fleet — are located in black neighborhoods, and only six percent are located south of Cermak.

Zipcar has 0.4 percent of its cars located in black neighborhoods, which is only one car, even though African Americans make up 36 percent of the city’s population, according to the 2000 Census.

Instead, both of Chicago’s car sharing companies concentrate their business in white and mixed race neighborhoods. I-GO has 145 car locations in Chicago, 89 percent of which are in white and mixed neighborhoods. Zipcar has 148 locations in the city, with 97 percent of them in white and mixed neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are mostly on the North and Northwest sides, with the exception of a few areas on the South side near Illinois Institute of Technology, Hyde Park and the University of Chicago.
...
“Are they deciding on the basis of market demand or are they deciding on the basis of race? A lot of times people will cover up their real motivation with things that seem to be business reasons but actually aren’t,” says Naomi Davis, founder and president of BIG: Blacks in Green, an environmental organization that advocates bringing green practices and lifestyles into the black community.

“The black community is routinely the last to receive any sort of savings innovation and new, quality ideas. There’s nothing new about that. I would really be surprised if it were any other way.”

Officials at I-Go and Zipcar had different explanations.

“The most dense concentration of our cars is at the densest part of our city, which is along the lakefront,” says Kosmacher of I-GO. “But if you look at where we are, we’re in Albany Park and moving into Old Irving. We’re starting to move out and move west and also to move south.”

South Shore resident in Chicago is greening black communities

Tribune:

For much of her life, Naomi Davis has envisioned African-American communities where residents of all income levels live among each other, shop at local markets and buy goods from local vendors and farmers.

Even when she worked as an attorney and business owner, she promoted her vision by writing plays in which the characters lived in urban villages, recycled waste, treated the environment with care and supported each other. She'd spread her message by talking to groups and friends.

"Most people think to improve their lifestyle they need to move out of the neighborhood," the South Shore resident said. "Or they think you need to move others in. I want people to know they can create an oasis right where they live."

Ride with us aboard "PC1"

Last month we elected people to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. In this vid courtesy of the Northtown News Magazine we see one aspect of this lesser known governmental body. They are on board a boat that tests the water in the Chicago area.

Duration is about 30 minutes.

Blue Cart pick up starts this week in the 6th ward

An update on the blue carts.

If you recieved one, you should have also received some information on it, including collection schedule.

In the 6th ward, homes SOUTH of 79th street will get the recycleables picked up THIS week (Dec. 1) and then every OTHER week after that. Homes NORTH of 79th street will get the recycleables picked up NEXT week (Dec. 8) and then every OTHER week after that.

Please note this blue cart is not a regular garbage can, so please be mindful what goes in there. Something that stuck out to me: plastic grocery bags, light bulbs and styrofoam should not go in the blue carts. There is a photo of what should go in on the top of the blue cart.

For more information on the Blue Cart system, check the city's Blue Cart website.

Chicago's toxic air

Tribune:

People living in Chicago and nearby suburbs face some of the highest risks in the nation for cancer, lung disease and other health problems linked to toxic chemicals pouring from industry smokestacks, according to a Tribune analysis of federal data.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent millions of dollars to assess the dangers that air pollution poses but has failed to fulfill promises to make the research more accessible to the public. So the Tribune is posting the information on its Web site, where users can easily find nearby polluters and the chemicals going into their air.

Those who look up Cook County will see it ranked worst in the nation for dangerous air pollution, based on 2005 data. The Tribune also found Chicago was among the 10 worst cities in the U.S.

The factory with the highest risk score in Chicago is a steel mill on the edge of upscale Lincoln Park, a neighborhood where it isn't uncommon to find people buying organic dog food.

This article is worth your time. I'm sure this article might scare you, but no one can argue with this idea of clear air. This can include factories or automobiles. What can be done to clean it up?

Water demand could increase 64 percent by 2050

From the Business Ledger:

Water shortages loom on the horizon for the Chicago area unless businesses and government agencies plan effectively, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) says in a report.

Demand for water in 11 counties of northeastern Illinois could increase as much as 64 percent by mid-century, creating potentially serious shortages, according to the report, which was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The region’s economy and well being depend on the availability of water, the report noted. Lake Michigan is one of the world’s largest fresh water resources, but population forecasts indicated parts of the region may suffer deficits in coming years.

The report includes information on an 11-county deep bedrock aquifer and the Fox River Basin’s shallow bedrock aquifer. (An aquifer is a body of geologic material that can supply useful quantities of groundwater to natural springs and water wells.)

With this report northeastern Illinois now has a clear picture showing implications of our water consumption trends, said CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn.

“To ensure an adequate supply for residential, commercial and residential needs, we must start now to plan better and conserve more,” he said.

Study: Chicago Tap Water Contains Trace Chemicals

Story from Channel 2...

A new study by the Chicago Tribune might make you think twice before taking a drink of tap water. The report says you could be gulping down small amounts of drugs and chemicals along with that H2O.

As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, it's the second recent study that shows our water purification systems aren't filtering out everything.

Ryan Russell is one of the 7 million people in the Chicago area who drinks treated water from Lake Michigan – water that he's just learned still contains trace amounts of drugs and chemicals.

"I think that's awful, actually," Russell said. "You would imagine that water would be safe to drink, safe to bathe in."

And Chicago officials say it is, but a Tribune-financed study found tiny amounts of an anti-seizure medication, caffeine, acetaminophen and two chemicals used to make Teflon and Scotchguard in water it sampled.

The paper hired a lab to do the testing after the city refused to the testing on its own.

Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna with the Chicago Department of Environment says Chicagoans should not worry about their tap water and that the trace amounts are incredibly small.

"One part per trillion is equivalent to one second in 32,000 years," Malec-McKenna said.

That's great I just wonder if I should go back to using filters at home like my family used to do in the past.