CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Polluted property on the city’s Southeast Side has been added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of national priorities for clean-up.
The site is the 104-acre old Acme Steel Coke plant on 112th and Torrence in the South Deering neighborhood.
The EPA said the site, which has been abandoned for some time, used to release hazardous substances and pollutants that pose significant threats to human health and the environment.
Inspections of the site found containers with corrosives, solvents, and oils. Coke by-products and wastes have saturated the soil on the property including wetland areas.
Money to clean up the South Deering site and others on the national priorities list will come from a $3.5 billion Superfund investment signed into law by President Joe Biden.
“EPA can now focus more federal resources on accelerating the cleanup and addressing the concerns of residents who live near the newly-listed Acme Steel Superfund site,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore in a statement.
“This is an important leap forward that empowers EPA to remedy over a century’s worth of contamination on Chicago’s Southeast Side.”
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