Science & Nature
Army Corps Drops Plan to Expand Toxic Dump on Lake Michigan
Following a yearslong battle with community groups and environmentalists, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it’s withdrawing a plan to expand a toxic sludge dump on Lake Michigan.
The dump — known as a confined disposal facility — was constructed in 1984 to store polluted sediment dredged from the Calumet River and Cal-Sag Channel. When it reached capacity, the initial plan was to top off the 45-acre site and turn it over to the Chicago Park District. Instead, the Army Corps proposed a 22-foot vertical expansion that would extend the dump’s life for another 20 years.
In January, the state of Illinois informed the Army Corps it would oppose the expansion, and in response to that decision, on Tuesday, the Corps announced it had dropped the plan.
“This is a victory for community residents and all of us who care about protecting healthy communities and Lake Michigan,” said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, which led a lawsuit against the Army Corps on behalf of the Alliance of the Southeast and Friends of the Parks.
Col. Kenneth Rockwell, commander of the Army Corps’ Chicago District, said the Corps remains committed to dredging operations in order to maintain commercial navigation in the Calumet Harbor, Calumet River and the Cal-Sag Channel.
“We will work closely with federal, state, and local partners to explore alternative solutions that balance environmental considerations, economic needs, and the long-term viability of these waterways,” Rockwell said in a statement.
Opponents of the expansion said the Southeast Side of Chicago is already overburdened with toxic pollution, and they also cited the long-held promise of a lakefront park once the dump was decommissioned.
“This is a big win for environmental justice neighborhoods like ours,” said Amalia NietoGomez, executive director of the Alliance of the Southeast. “We are very excited that the U.S. Army Corps finally did the right thing by withdrawing its plans for another toxic dump on top of the existing one, but it shouldn’t have to take a lawsuit to get them to do so.”
The Corps, which has constructed nearly 45 similar facilities around the Great Lakes in the past 40 years, says it considered alternate sites for Chicago’s dredged material during a feasibility study. It settled on the expansion option in part because of objections from residents near the alternate locations.
The Calumet River and Cal-Sag Channel are dredged in order to maintain federally mandated depths required for “safe, reliable and efficient navigation” of ships, per the Army Corps.
If it weren’t contaminated, the sediment could be dumped in open water. But sludge from the river and channel is loaded with pollutants including arsenic, lead, manganese and mercury. Sources of the pollutants include historical discharges in the pre-Clean Water Act days, as well as stormwater runoff and combined sewer overflows.
Increasingly powerful and damaging storms along the shoreline caused concern about the potential for breaches in the dump, and these pollutants entering Lake Michigan.
“The Army Corps will now need to find better and more sensible alternatives that are outside of Cook County and reduce the dredged waste to the extent practicable,” Learner said.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
