Activists are vowing to keep fighting a metal scrapper from operating in their Southeast Side community. 'Here in Chicago, you can cut it with a knife how deep environmental racism goes' LatinoVoicesWTTW
“My own family has been affected by respiratory issues. My brother had to wear a mask from 5-years-old to 10-years-old to be able to sleep at night. My grandparents both just passed away due to respiratory issues,” Sanchez said. “My grandmother having holes in her lungs. My story is not uncommon. These are stories throughout the 10th Ward, throughout the Southeast Side … this is a story that we are not statistics to this life expectancy. We are living, breathing community members.
“There’s progress being done all around this country, but here in Chicago, you can cut it with a knife how deep environmental racism goes,” she said. “We’re fighting to change the mindset of that. It’s not business as usual like it used to be in the city of Chicago. We’re standing up and we’re demanding our rights … It’s unbearable to say they follow the rules and the guidelines because those rules can be broken and adjusted before the reporting requirement.
"The facts are that Southside Recycling followed the city’s strict rules that were adopted in 2020 with this project in mind after a lengthy public process," the statement continued,"and our environmental controls perfectly match a 2021 U.S. EPA enforcement alert that details best practices in the metal shredding industry.”
Sanchez says it's not just about Southside Recycling, but rather taking a look at the whole picture and the “cumulative impact.” “For us, when we talk about big companies following the regulations and zoning, it doesn’t matter," Sanchez said.". It was held to those standards. But we are living and experiencing these health defects … we hope the executive order of Lori Lightfoot continues to be a tool to uplift health in looking at the whole picture of demographics, of age, race, poverty … taking into consideration all the factors when it comes to permitting processes.
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