(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A project to haul garbage down a Chicago waterway has been scrapped.
The waste management company LRS, formerly known as the Lakeshore Recycling Systems, has abandoned an idea to send garbage down the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal to the city of Henry.
The canal was built more than 120 years ago to reverse the flow of the Chicago River from Lake Michigan.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the company has paused the project indefinitely, citing an EPA investigation into the contamination of a nearby channel.
Concerns over the Southwest Side waterway were first raised by the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization when the project was proposed several years ago.
The waste company said the idea to ship several hundred tons of Chicago garbage down the river was an opportunity to reduce truck traffic, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
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