The April 11 smoke stack demolition that enraged and endangered Little Village residents triggered “no apparent health risks,” according to air quality tests released Monday.
Testing of particulate matter, dust and soil composition and building debris were conducted by the Chicago Department of Public Health and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and validated by a “non-governmental agency,” according to City Hall.
According to City Hall, the tests at the site of the shuttered Crawford coal-fired power plant show “no apparent health risk to the surrounding community.”
“We are committed to protecting the health and wellness of all Chicagoans, and it was imperative that my team conduct a robust investigation into the samples they were able to collect onsite to better understand the health implications of this event,” said Dr. Allision Arwady, city health commissioner.
“Based on the validated results that we are publishing today we have no reason to believe the implosion emitted additional toxic materials into the surrounding community, but the department remains committed to continue ongoing tests of the site to monitor these levels.”
Kim Wasserman, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said she won’t know if she can “trust the results” until she sees the test report and goes through it “line-by-line.”
“Our experience in the past is, it’s really up to your interpretation of the results. What the Department of Public Health considers safe levels versus what the federal government considers safe,” Wasserman said.
“In the past, we’ve seen that the federal government has more stringent levels of what they deem to be safe versus what the state deems to be safe. That’s what we need to understand for ourselves. What do they deem to be safe and is that truly safe? We also want to see how samples were collected, who collected them and the timeliness of those collections. All of those factors weigh into how reliable those results are.”
Local Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) said he’s relieved by that the test results, but they should not be the final word.
“It’s definitely good to hear these results. They don’t raise any further alarms. But, I’m asking the city to continue to monitor and continue to test. We need to make sure these results are accurate and that they remain consistent,” Rodriguez said.
Armed with a city demolition permit that Rodriguez claims he twice tried to stop, a sub-contractor hired by Hilco Redevelopment Partners imploded the 95-year-old smokestack. The demolition at the site of a shuttered coal-fired power plant proceeded without the safety measures the sub-contractor had promised to implement.
The implosion caused a giant plume of dust to rain down on the community, making it difficult to breathe during a coronavirus pandemic that does the same. Homes, vehicles, streets and sidewalks were left filthy.
After the demolition, the Chicago Department of Public health collected fourteen dust “wipe samples” from the windshields of vehicles surrounding the shuttered Crawford coal-fired power plant.
The samples were tested for asbestos and metals. That includes lead, cadmium, selenium, nickel and zinc, chromium, and arsenic. Two days later, soil samples were tested for the presence of asbestos, polynuclear aromatics semi-volatile organic compounds PCB’s, pesticides and inorganics.
On April 14, so-called “SUMMA canisters” were installed to search for organic compounds and dust particles. Additional air monitors were installed over the next several weeks.
On Monday, the city published the air quality tests. According to City Hall, they show “no particulate levels considered to be unsafe for human health, per EPA standards.”
The EPA “measured particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and PM 10, and found no sustained readings were above the national air quality ambient standard threshold,” City Hall said in a press release announcing the findings.
“SUMMA canister air tests did reveal low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s),” the press release said, adding that the city health department “is currently reviewing these results with experts to better understand potential sources and impacts while comparing them to background levels found in the air, both in Little Village and across the city.”
The health department and the EPA “will continue to sample, monitor and publish data on an ongoing basis to track any changes in air quality.”
Hilco has already been slapped with 16 citations and $68,000 in fines for failing to spray the site with water before during and after the disastrous smoke stack demolition.
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The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has referred an “enforcement action” to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
According to City Hall, the settled dust composition was tested by Health Department with “additional analysis and validation” by a non-governmental agency. Testing for lead and arsenic was a “priority” because it was the site of the “nature of the former Crawford” power plant site.
“No asbestos was detected in the samples collected from the area where the dust cloud settled. The samples were also tested for inorganic materials and metals, and while small concentrations of lead and barium were found in the dust, health experts determined that the levels found do not present an apparent health risk to residents,” the press release states.
Soil samples were collected from the area surrounding the smoke stack. Those tests were also “validated by an outside party,” officials said.
“Results revealed metals in the form of arsenic, barium, lead and mercury, consistent with expectations of the site, as well as with background levels found in soil throughout the city. Health professionals believe these levels do not currently pose a material health risk to the surrounding community,” the release states.
Last week, Hilco got the go-ahead Tuesday to clean up debris left behind by its smokestack demolition — and secure buildings at the Little Village site — to prevent it from becoming, what Mayor Lori Lightfoot called an “attractive nuisance” for scavengers.
“I’m very worried about people who have been breaking into the site continuing to scale the fence in search of copper and other scrap. That’s just a recipe for disaster,” she said then.
