The plume of dust that coated homes in Little Village after the botched demolition of a coal plant smokestack did not threaten residents’ health, according to final test results released Monday by the city of Chicago.

Since the late 1980s, residents from Hegewisch, the East Side and nearby neighborhoods have organized as part of the Southeast Environmental Task Force to push for better environmental conditions.

Things were starting to look up in Hegewisch when the pandemic hit. The community spent years trying to recover from a massive loss of manufacturing, and has regularly dealt with pollution from nearby industry. 

We discuss the history of Earth Day and the environmental challenges the planet is facing today with Denis Hayes, the organizer of the very first event in 1970, and local environmental activist Kim Wasserman.

Environmental organizations have petitioned the EPA to establish rules requiring companies to minimally disclose to the public that they’ve stopped monitoring and reporting pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed on Friday to hold Hilco Redevelopment Partners accountable for botching the demolition of the smokestack at the former Crawford Power Plant, sending a plume of dust over six blocks of homes in Little Village.

Lawsuits have now been filed against the developer and other parties involved in the mishandled demolition of a former coal plant in Little Village, which recently left the neighborhood covered in a plume of unknown particles. 

Hilco Redevelopment Partners issues an apology and outlined corrective actions following a demolition that left the Little Village neighborhood covered by a plume of dust over the weekend.

The Little Village community has already been hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19. Now, residents are fuming about the demolition of a smokestack that gave rise to a plume of dust and particulate matter that wafted through the neighborhood.

Chicago is investigating the demolition of a former coal plant in Little Village and halting additional work at the site following an uproar over the smokestack’s implosion, which sent a plume of fine powder all over the neighborhood.

It’s estimated that roughly two billion people around the globe are now under some form of stay-at-home order. This significant slowdown in economic activity has also led to an environmental impact, particularly in the air.

Grocery stores remain one of the few places in Chicago where large numbers of people are still able to mingle, and that — rightfully — has put both employees and customers on edge.

The EPA is relaxing enforcement of “environmental legal obligations” during the coronavirus pandemic, and activists are seething.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has seen a rise in disinfectant wipes stuck to filtering screens at its water reclamation plants, and it now has some advice for residents.

Southwest Side residents are mobilizing to pump the brakes on MAT Asphalt’s application for a 10-year permit from the Illinois EPA, and say they don’t trust the agency to put people over profit.

Starbucks said it is “pausing” the use of personal cups in its stores as a precautionary response to the coronavirus epidemic.