Army Corps of Engineers drops plan to expand Chicago lakefront landfill
Environmentalists in Chicago celebrated a win Wednesday in a years-long battle — involving a toxic dump site on the shores of Lake Michigan on the Southeast Side of Chicago.
For years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insisted that extending the landfill was the best option. But after a lengthy legal fight, the corps has changed its position.
The part of the lakefront in question is on the Far Southeast Side. Just 14 miles from downtown Chicago sits Calumet Beach and Park. Steps away from the park is an old, toxic landfill in the area of the Illinois International Port District.
The landfill opened in the early 1980s along the shore.
"Initially, it was supposed to end 10 years after that, but went on and on," said Fred Bates of Friends of the Parks. "We have opposed the extension of this facility, this toxic waste dump."
Bates and the Friends of the Parks have watched the progress of the landfill for years. The organization became more concerned when in 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers proposed putting new waste on top of landfill.
"This is a community that has been deeply overburdened with environmental problems," Bates said.
The Army Corps told CBS News Chicago back in 2020 that a 25-foot extension of the landfill, formally called the Chicago Area Confined Disposal Facility, was essential as a place for sediment that builds up in the Calumet River.
"We looked at 60 different sites since 2015 — alternative sites," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager Mike Padilla said in 2020. "The public did not really want us to build a new facility. They were like, 'You know, this is contaminated material — 'not in our backyard,' sort of thing."
But Howard Leaner, lead attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said the alternative sites the Army Corps looked at all had something in common.
"What they did was they only looked seriously at five alternatives. All five of those were in the 10th Ward on the Southeast Side," Learner said. "What that said was the Army Corps was just going to do its business as usual."
Friends of the Parks kept fighting in court.
"It doesn't matter if it's on the Southeast Side or anywhere," Learner said. "That's just a bad idea."
This week, the Army Corps finally withdrew its proposal to extend the landfill, due in part to Illinois state permits getting denied.
"By denying the permits, then forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take a different look," Learner said.
Friends of the Parks considers this development a victory, but the fight is not over. Under a more than 30-year-old plan, the Chicago Park District is also supposed to revitalize the land for usage.
"I would hope that that this can be done by the Park District," said Bates. "We're certainly going to encourage them to move forward with this."
But money will be a key factor in transforming the land, which the Park District owns.
