(WTTW News)

July in Chicago brings scorching summer heat to the city, and often with it, poor air quality.

Eco House’s Englewood farm site. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Eco House is planting the seeds for a homegrown flower industry on vacant lots in Englewood, Woodlawn and West Garfield Park. We learn about the mission behind this slow flowers movement.

In this Oct. 5, 2016, file photo, heavy equipment is seen at a site where sections of the Dakota Access pipeline were being buried near the town of St. Anthony in Morton County, N.D. (Tom Stromme / The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File)

A judge on Monday ordered the Dakota Access pipeline shut down for additional environmental review more than three years after it began pumping oil — handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Protesters outside the North Side home of MAT Asphalt owner. (Neighbors for Environmental Justice)

Environmental activists from the city’s Southwest Side brought their ongoing fight against MAT Asphalt to the North Side front yard of owner Michael Tadin Jr. on Thursday night.

General Iron's Lincoln Park facility. (WTTW News)

Over the objections of environmental activists, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday issued a construction permit to General Iron, allowing the company to move its metal-shredding operation from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side. 

Regal fritillary butterfly. (Doug Taron)

Similar in size to the monarch, the regal fritillary is also a stunner in the looks department, but the native prairie butterfly has nearly disappeared from Illinois. To save this pollinator, we need to save the prairie.

The partly demolished site of the former Crawford Power Generating Station, which was active from 1925 to 2012. (WTTW News)

City officials confirmed Friday afternoon that Hilco Global is now allowed to move forward with construction.

Angela Tovar (Courtesy of the City of Chicago)

Angela Tovar, a Chicago native who grew up in the South Chicago community, has been named the city’s chief sustainability officer.

Retail businesses in South Chicago sustained property damage during recent incidents of looting. (WTTW News)
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On the Southeast Side, a community deals with the aftermath of property damage and looting against the backdrop of ongoing concerns over COVID-19 and environmental pollution.

The partly demolished site of the former Crawford Power Generating Station, which was active from 1925 to 2012. (WTTW News)

A planned demolition of a building at the former Crawford Power Plant will take place June 5, after being delayed nearly three weeks after protests erupted and the local alderman objected, company officials announced Friday.

The partly demolished site of the former Crawford Power Generating Station, which was active from 1925 to 2012. (WTTW News)

During a 90-minute town hall Saturday, Chicago residents questioned officials about plans to demolish what’s left of the Crawford Coal Plant and Hilco Global’s commitment to the neighborhood.

General Iron’s metal-shredding operation in Lincoln Park. (WTTW News)

General Iron Industries believes that two explosions at its scrap metal-shredding facility that shook Lincoln Park on Monday were connected to a new piece of pollution control equipment installed last year.

The partly demolished site of the former Crawford Power Generating Station, which was active from 1925 to 2012. (WTTW News)

The city says what’s left of the Crawford Coal Plant needs to be demolished out of safety concerns. But this time, officials promise ample water will be on site to guard against a repeat of April’s botched implosion.

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot late Thursday called off a planned demolition of a building at the former Crawford Power Plant after protests erupted and the alderman objected.

MAT Asphalt in McKinley Park (WTTW News)

An environmental dispute in the Southwest Side neighborhood of McKinley Park has loomed large in the community’s response to the pandemic. 

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)

The plume of dust that coated homes in Little Village after the demolition of a smokestack included mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants, according to a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.