City of Chicago Denies Petcoke Enclosure Delay Request
CHICAGO (February 16, 2015) – Today, the City of Chicago denied a request from KCBX to delay enclosure of their controversial petcoke piles on the city’s Southeast Side.
Following is reaction from Henry Henderson, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Midwest director and former Commissioner of the Environment for the City of Chicago:
"The City is rightly sticking to their guns on enclosure, making it simple for KCBX. The company needs to enclose the piles at the edge of Southeast Siders' homes, parks, and schools on time. If it can't even meet this deadline, it should get out of town. The neighbors would rightly like to see them go—and we agree that facilities like this have no place in such close proximity to our communities.
"Despite this decision, under the City's current rules, the company can continue to operate as they have been doing for at least a year. More will need to be done to protect the community from the impacts of these piles, as well as the trains, barges, ships and trucks delivering the dusty mess.”
The City’s letter denying the variance request can be found online at http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/CDPH%20Response/CDPH_Response_KCBX_021315.pdf