(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Environmental community organizations are calling for transparency and community input as city officials consider bids for an asphalt supplier.
“We deserve a right to breath in McKinley Park and Chicago,” said Kim Wasserman, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
In particular, she was speaking about MAT Asphalt. Its plant is across Pershing Road from McKinley Park, and the company’s $504 million bid was the lowest of two bidders recently seeking a five-year contract.
Wasserman and others are worried that, if MAT Asphalt secures the deal, the smells and pollution would be even worse than it is now.
Wasserman said she lives a few blocks from the park.
“If the asphalt produced is quantifiable, so are the estimated emissions,” she said during a Zoom news conference Tuesday. “Communities that are at Ground Zero of production should have access to this information and should be able to comment and attend public hearings to share in their concerns of what it means to live in Ground Zero next to these asphalt plants.”
Alfredo Romo, executive director of Neighbors For Environmental Justice said bidders should be obligated to estimate their emissions.
Romo said the city has a history of “environmental racism” by placing big polluters in communities where black and brown people live.
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The city contract would result in millions of tons of asphalt being produced to pave streets and patch potholes for five years.
Ogden Avenue Materials and Reliable Asphalt joint venture have put in a $554 million bid.
The environmental groups also want the city to review all bidders to see if they comply with current city, state and federal environmental regulations and whether they have any outstanding citations.
Oscar Sanchez, who opposed General Iron’s plan to bring metal-shredding to the Southeast Side, said, “Absolutely no one deserves to be part of a ‘sacrifice zone’.”
WBBM Newsradio has reached out to the city of Chicago and the owner of MAT Asphalt for comment.