Some South Chicago residents are raising concerns over the development of a new quantum computing campus.

The plan is to transform the former U.S. Steel South Works site into the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP). Officials are calling the campus “history-altering” and hope the development and their partnership with California-based company PsiQuantum make Illinois a global leader in quantum.

But some neighbors want the process to slow down and are raising environmental and displacement concerns.

“We are asking for our public officials, especially because it’s coming up in Zoning next week, to slow this process down, make sure there’s an environmental review and make sure that the community has time to actually define and discuss what these benefits should be,” said Amalia NietoGomez, executive director of Alliance of the Southeast.

The Chicago Plan Commission passed the planned development for IQMP on Nov. 21, and it goes to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Monday.

South Works is often cited as the last remaining significant development opportunity on Chicago’s Lake Michigan shoreline, and a number of uses have been proposed and abandoned over the years. The quantum computing “innovation hub” was announced in July by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, with PsiQuantum on board as the initial tenant.

“We intend to drive innovation on a history-altering scale and provide unprecedented economic opportunity for the people of this great city and state,” Pritzker said at the time.

The announcement has gathered a lot of attraction and it’s rumored the park could make Illinois the Silicon Valley of quantum.

“We have four of the 10 major research centers in the country located here in Illinois,” said Harley Johnson, CEO and director of IQMP. “We have the national labs, Argonne National Lab and Fermi National Lab, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, where I am. And that gives us a head start, because we have the basic science in place.”

Johnson explained the benefits of quantum computing and its ability to transform a lot of areas in the industry and our society.

The site is not new to introductory development projects. In 2006 and 2010 the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the site is safe for occupation. However, past suitors have backed out of previous plans due to environmental concerns.

“We have community knowledge of things that are wrong with the site, like hidden tanks, not in places you expect, leaking tanks,” NietoGomez said. “The community knows some of the things that are there that need to be taken into account and that will need to be remediated.”

IQMP told WTTW News significant remediation of the site was conducted under prior ownership, and as a result of those efforts, the Illinois EPA issued and subsequently confirmed a “No Further Remediation” (NFR) letter, establishing the site meets the agency’s most stringent site-specific cleanup standards developed in accordance with state law.

Advocates say the NFR only meets a certain depth and the building process of quantum goes beyond that depth, resulting in the need for an environmental review. Their frustration lies in the lack of transparency. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, none of the environmental reviews have been made public. Community members feel that since the site is receiving public funds, the information needs to be made available.

“As residents, we want to know what we’re looking at,” said Anne Holcomb, community resident and co-founder of Environment, Transportation, Health, and Open Space (ETHOS) of South Shore. “Why all the secrets, unless it’s something really bad that they don’t want us to know because they’re afraid of liability.”

Holcomb lives three blocks from the site and said she found slag in her backyard — a byproduct of the steel industry with very high arsenic content. Holcomb’s biggest concern is the damage the property underwent when it was occupied by the steel mill and the lack of care that transpired during the shutdown.

“We know that there was some illegal dumping that was done when the steel mill shut down,” Holcomb said. “There were parts of the campus that were abandoned before the whole thing went bust, and if they had something nasty they wanted to get rid of they would just have a steel worker get a bulldozer, go out there and put it somewhere and run some dirt over it. And we know that, because steel workers have told us this.”

If further remediation is needed, the developer said it can fund it and fix any potential environmental hazards.

Despite community advocates’ growing concerns, some locals are looking forward to the development and the potential growth the campus will bring.

“When I knock on doors and I talk to folks in the South Chicago community, … they know that that piece of property could be catalytic to seeing further investment in the South Chicago neighborhood, and they’re excited,” said Ald. Peter Chico (10th Ward). “It’s time for our community to be paid attention to. It’s time for the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois to pay attention to the South Chicago community, and that time has come.”

IQMP and PsiQuantum have plans in place to include the community in the development process. Claretian Associates, United Way of Metro Chicago and LISC are partnering to create a “quality of life plan” for South Chicago that will engage residents and stakeholders in mapping out a vision for the neighborhood.

PsiQuantum plans to create 150 jobs over the next five years and hundreds more in construction. However, residents are still asking for firm commitments from the company that community members will see the benefits from these jobs.

IQMP partners have hosted three community engagement meetings since August, and the fourth will be Dec. 10. Previous meetings can be accessed online.

Patty Wetli contributed to this report.

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