News

Chicago and Cook County Champion Calumet

A recent decision by the Chicago City Council to extend a moratorium on landfill expansion in the Calumet area, and a commitment by the Cook County Board to manage 360 acres of land, came as good news to community organizers in the Lake Calumet region. Since the 1800s, the area has endured serious environmental degradation. All but 500 acres of the area’s original 22,000 acres of wetlands have been filled. Industrial pollution and large-scale waste disposal have damaged natural habitat and decreased residents’ quality of life. But despite the damage, the remaining natural areas support a remarkable diversity of life, and local residents remain determined to revitalize their communities.

In 1983, local environmental and community groups called for a moratorium on new and expanded landfills within the city of Chicago, and Mayor Harold Washington supported their proposal. The moratorium went into effect in February 1984, and has remained active ever since, with renewals every one or two years.

Since that time, Waste Management, Inc. has made several proposals that would allow it to expand the CID Landfill into property the company owns at O’Brien Lock Marsh, located at 134th Street and the Calumet River. Local residents and conservation groups have resisted each attempt to expand the landfill and have managed to keep the moratorium in place. Last December, the Chicago City Council passed a two-year extension, and this past spring, 10th Ward Alderman John Pope introduced a proposal to extend the moratorium for 20 years. The proposal passed on June 8, extending the ban on new landfills through 2025.

Local conservation groups, such as the Southeast Environmental Task Force, see the move as progress in their fight to improve the health and quality of life of the Calumet region. Others in the community, however, saw merit in Waste Management’s proposal to redevelop 250 acres of landfill into a public park after a period of further use.

In addition to the landfill ban, conservation advocates are cheered by a recent decision by the board of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County to formalize the district’s participation in the Lake Calumet Project, a multi-agency partnership to restore the Calumet region’s environment and economy. As the lead partner in the project, the City of Chicago has been working with a variety of organizations to develop an open-space and industrial-use plan for the region. The plan recommends setting aside roughly 4,800 acres for open space, and redeveloping roughly 3,000 acres of industrial land. The June agreement includes plans for the Forest Preserve District to take over management of nearly 360 acres of the open space.

Commissioner Mike Quigley said the June 11 decision is “a good first step toward equalizing the available open space for urban and suburban residents.”

“Currently, 95 percent of the county’s open space is in the suburbs,” he said. “And all of the land currently under acquisition [by the Forest Preserve District] is in the suburbs. [Calumet] is also a crucial area — it’s a vital area that has beaten all the odds. It has faced every type of environmental degradation, and it deserves our efforts.”

— Stephanie Folk