CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Activists who have been fighting pollution primarily on Chicago’s Southeast Side were celebrating the city’s decision to settle a civil rights complaint over pollution, which had been framed as “environmental racism.”
The activists called the settlement “historic” and “a landmark agreement.”
“The first-of-its-kind settlement resulted from a federal civil rights investigation that was initiated by community organizations on the city’s Southeast Side when a notorious metal shredding operation proposed moving from the gentrified Lincoln Park neighborhood, to the mostly working class community of color,” said Gina Ramirez.
A HUD investigation found that the city discriminates against low-income residents by locating polluting industries in their neighborhoods.
Cheryl Johnson’s late mother Hazel fought environmental racism for decades, and so has she.
“It was human sacrifices to get to this point where we are today,” Johnson said. “No more abuse that I have to endure from any regulatory agencies or industries that used to tell my mom, ‘This garbage gotta go somewhere. Why not your neighborhood?’ They can’t say that no more. They can’t call us crazy no more.”
Johnson said: “We did it … I can breathe.”
The settlement includes a September deadline for the city to produce an “environmental justice action plan”
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