Environmental complaint leads to federal discrimination probe
Updated 2/5/2021 4:19 PM
SPRINGFIELD -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation into the Illinois EPA over whether the planned relocation of an industrial scrap shredder on Chicago's Southeast Side discriminates against communities of color.
A complaint filed in December by a pair of local community advocacy groups accused the Illinois EPA of unfairly discriminating against majority Latino and Black communities in the area by allowing a construction permit to be issued to General III LLC for a scrap metal recycling facility.
The complaint, filed by attorneys for the Chicago Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke and the Southeast Environmental Task Force, spurred the EPA's External Civil Rights Compliance Office to open an investigation on Jan. 25.