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Little Village residents rally on anniversary of smokestack demolition that coated area with dust
On Sunday, residents of the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago continued to fight for environmental justice on the anniversary of the demolition of a smokestack that coated their homes with dust.
CHICAGO - On Sunday, residents of Little Village continued to fight for environmental justice on the anniversary of the demolition of a smokestack that coated their homes with dust.
Hilco Redevelopment Partners used explosives to implode the 400 foot smokestack at 33rd and Pulaski last year. The demolition sent a cloud of dust over the neighborhood.
The rally was organized by the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
"I was one of the people who was really, really affected by COVID-19, and I feel like it’s because of what happened at this site last year, because I’m still not well," Little Village resident Antonia Quinones told the crowd in Spanish.
The company and its two contractors have settled a $370,000 state lawsuit over air pollution violations.
But on Sunday, rally organizers said the community is still being ignored. They said that Fernando Cantu, 78, died shortly after the demolition. Rally organizers said he had asthma and that the dust from the implosion may have aggravated his respiratory system.
"I was terribly affected by it, and I wasn’t the only one," said Quinones, who added that the dust seeped into her home even after she closed her doors and windows. "No one told us what was going to happen."
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Mayor puts halt on demolition work after neighborhood is coated in dust
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city would hand out masks to residents living near the site of the former Crawford Coal Plant. She demanded that the company doing the demolition clean cars and property too. (Video courtesy Chicago Fire Department)
Rafael Cervantes, of El Foro Del Pueblo, said organizers demanded "justice and serious investment into the community and not private corporations" from the city after the explosion but were met with lukewarm answers and even condemnation.
"What kind of message is this sending to our community, our young people?" Cervantes said. "The message is you are worth nothing, your father is worth nothing, your mother is worth nothing, your grandparents are worth nothing and life is worthless in Little Village."
Activists cited the debacle as another case of the city ignoring the environmental concerns of the Southwest Side community and reiterated worries that the planned distribution center will bring hundreds of diesel-fueled trucks to the area, further contaminating the neighborhood.
The group wants Target to break the lease with Hilco and donate the site to the city for the development of large-scale indoor growing, a "mercado," commercial kitchens and a solar workforce training site.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.