Congresswoman Kelly’s Statement in Support of Stopping Environmental Racism in Chicago’s South East Side

Congresswoman Kelly released the following statement on environmental racism in the city's South East Side:

I commend the US EPA for recently launching an investigation into possible environmental racism in the city's South East Side. The area has served as the region's dumping grounds and housed heavily polluting industries for generations. In recent years, residents have fought lead, manganese and petcoke contamination.

Just a few years ago, I worked alongside neighborhood advocates there to successfully remove the outdoor storage of the pollutant petcoke, which was creating hazardous, airborne dust and seriously impacting the health of residents.

For these reasons, I sent a letter to local and state regulators on February 4, 2021 asking that they stop the review and approval of operating permits for any potentially significant new polluters in the 10th Ward until the US EPA has completed its analysis of potential environmental racism. This would include the current proposal by the Reserve Management Group (RMG) to expand its steel shredding operations and absorb scrap from the former General Iron.

We must address environmental racism and its devastating impact on the health of our citizens. For minority communities, environmental racism has devastating consequences. Air pollution, contaminated water and toxic dust often result in asthma, a greater likelihood of heart attacks, neurological issues, cancers and premature death. I will continue to closely monitor this situation and will work closely with residents and officials of the South East Side to ensure that their concerns are fully addressed.