Illinois scraps plan for building migrant winter camp due to toxic soil risk
CHICAGO– Gov. JB Pritzker's administration announced Tuesday that it is scrapping plans for a temporary winter camp for migrants in Chicago, citing the risk of contaminants at the former industrial site.
The setback comes as Chicago struggles to house more than 24,000 migrants who have arrived from the border with Mexico since last August, most of them on buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to city data released Tuesday. With the coldest weather approaching – and despite a partnership with religious leaders to provide temporary housing – hundreds of asylum seekers are still waiting to be placed at airports and police stations, some still encamped on the sidewalks outside police station buildings stored.
In response to the urgent need, the state has provided $65 million for a tent camp in Brighton Park, designed for 2,000 people, and for permanent structures on a 200-bed site in the Little Village neighborhood, with priority given to families and people with a handicap.
Construction on the Brighton Park site began last week despite protests from residents that the 3.6 hectare site is contaminated and would endanger the health of any migrants housed there. According to an environmental report released Friday that identified pollutants, the site was previously home to a railroad yard with tanks and oil houses, a zinc smelter and a truck trailer parking lot.
The city late Friday released a study from consultant Terracon detailing the discovery and removal of plots of soil from the Brighton Park property that contained higher-than-expected levels of mercury and other pollutants.
Mayor Brandon Johnson's office issued assurances Monday that the shelter was safe for temporary residential use, based on Terracon's findings. That was before Pritzker's office pulled the plug after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the nearly 800-page environmental report. By then, there were already several large white tents equipped with HVAC units there.
“My administration is committed to protecting asylum seekers as we work to achieve independence,” Pritzker said in a statement. “We will not continue to house families in a location where serious environmental problems persist.”
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency concluded that more testing was needed to ensure the site was safe.
“The well-being of residents and workers at the site is our top priority, and current and projected site conditions do not adequately reduce the risks from human exposure to known and potential environmental conditions,” said Illinois EPA Director John J. Kim.
Councilwoman Julia Ramirez, who represents the city council for the district where the site is located, opposed the project due to safety concerns.
“I am pleased that the governor's office has decided not to continue using this parcel for shelter and has ensured that we take responsibility for caring for the health of immigrant families and residents,” she said, adding that the search for safe shelter must take place. Get on.
Construction was halted Monday while the state environmental agency reviewed the report, which collected laboratory results that assessed the site's soil, groundwater and soil gas.
An analysis found excessive amounts of mercury, four metals, DEHP – a chemical found in plastic products – and two semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), found in pesticides, oil-based products and fire retardants .
The soil surrounding the marked samples was excavated and disposed of elsewhere, and a barrier was built to restrict access to that soil, the report said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson's office said in a statement Monday that the site was safe for temporary housing with such safeguards. After the project was canceled Tuesday, Johnson told reporters that “the mission is still very much alive” to find shelter for immigrants sleeping outside.
City officials did not immediately respond to a question about whether alternative locations were being considered.
Yimara Pajaro, a Venezuelan seamstress, said she and her partner camped outside a South Side police station for two months before being moved to a church for temporary shelter last week.
Sleeping outside in Chicago after several snowfalls and below-freezing nights this fall left them in bad shape, Pajaro said. She suffered three asthma attacks, aggravated by the cold.
Pajaro said she wouldn't want to move to a shelter designed to house thousands of people, like the one planned for Brighton Park. And if the site is contaminated, “they shouldn't bring anyone there,” she said. “We're going to get sick. It seems like our health doesn't matter to them.”
Mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York have urged more federal aid to accommodate the newcomers. Migrants arrive in Democratic-run cities on buses funded by the Republican governors of Texas and Florida. Critics initially labeled that a political stunt, but more than a year later, cities are struggling to accommodate the influx as resources dwindle.
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Savage is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.