September 05, 2024

ELPC Argues in Federal Court to Stop Toxic Dredged Waste Dump

Updates on the Fight Against a Proposed Lakefront Landfill that Would Exacerbate Pollution in an Environmental Justice Community on Lake Michigan

On August 28, 2024, ELPC attorneys went to court to protect Lake Michigan and shoreline communities. We spent nearly three hours in oral arguments on cross-motions for summary judgment before a U.S. District Court Judge in just the latest salvo in our fight to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from building a new 25-ft high toxic dredged waste dump on Chicago’s Southeast Side.  

The 45-acre lakefront site was supposed to become a public park decades ago, when a long-time dredge dump known as the Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) was due to close. Instead, the Army Corps wants to build a new facility on top, exacerbating toxic risks to the shoreline, the water, and the community. The Southeast Side is an environmental justice community that has long been overburdened by toxic pollution. It is time to stop treating it as a dumping ground. Here’s how the story has unfolded. 

On March 16, 2023, the Alliance of the Southeast (ASE) and Friends of the Parks (FOTP), represented by ELPC public interest attorneys, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to stop the new dump. Local news outlets covering the story included CBS 2, Chicago Tribune, and Block Club Chicago.

2024 Updates

In May, the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board penned a forceful editorial imploring  Mayor Johnson, who controls the Chicago Park District by appointing its commissioners, to take charge and stop the Army Corps from building another toxic waste dump on land that belongs to the Chicago Park District.

On June 10, 2024, ELPC sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Brendan Johnson’s office, signed by 23 local groups, calling on him to exert his leadership and stop the proposed new dump of toxic dredged materials from the Calumet River from moving forward. A similar letter was sent to Mayor Johnson a year ago, but he never acted on the group’s initial plea for intervention that’s within his authority to take. The next day, ABC 7 News ran a story highlighting the battle between local community groups who want the Army Corps to find a more suitable location for the new dump.

In July, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a brief in opposition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers misguided proposal for a toxic dredged waste dump on Lake Michigan. And, making lemonade out of lemons, a new U.S. Supreme Court decision provides an unexpected legal opening for ELPC’s litigation to stop the dump. Read more from the Chicago Tribune.

What’s next

While we wait for the judge to review the case materials and make a decision, ELPC and our clients will continue to bring attention to this issue, so the community and our elected officials know what’s at stake.

In the meantime, the Army Corps has said it will submit new permit applications to Illinois EPA for permissions to move forward with construction of the new vertical toxic waste dump. For its part, Illinois EPA has indicated that it may deny the permits required. We hope that IEPA officials make the right choice to protect public health of the local community and water quality of Lake Michigan.