LVEJO - Celotex Campaign

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization joins community members and local representatives to demand a proper Clean Up of the Celotex Superfund Site on Saturday March 15, 2008 at 11:00 p.m. at the corner of 31st and Albany.

Saturday March 15, 2008 at the Celotex Site, w we will meet on e 31st and Albany Albany. Little Village Community Members, Elected Representatives, the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) and students from the community and around the City of Chicago will protest outside the Celotex Site to demand a proper clean up of the 24 acre USEPA toxic Superfund site. The former Asphalt Factory will be converted into a public park. The event will begin at 11:00 AM.

Little Village, a neighborhood of 95,000 residents, has been fighting for a park for over 10 years. On June 2, 2007 the City of Chicago and Chicago Park District announced they would build a park on the Celotex Superfund toxic waste site on 28th and Sacramento. “The Little Village Community is glad the City of Chicago and Park District have finally decided on a park site,” said Lorena Lopez, LVEJO Community Organizer. “However, we will not accept a park that could put our health and environment at risk.” We want a proper cap on the site, not just gravel that both was dumped with no oversight for its proposed use and that the EPA knows is not a proper cap for PAH’s. We need a park for the community that will be safe and used to its full capacity, by having the site at street level and properly capped to protect human health.

Community leaders point to a series of dangers posed by not cleaning up the cancer-causing polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) hotspots at Celotex, and possible solutions:

• The Celotex site preliminary hazardous risk score to qualify for the National Priority List’s cleanup of contamination ranks higher than any site in the United States: of 703 sites listed when the U.S. EPA last categorized Superfund sites.
• Surrounding Homes that have been contaminated for over 88 years by PAH’s, were cleaned up in 2007-2008 and run the risk of re-contamination with the site not being brought down to street level and capped.
• Cleaning the Celotex site and surrounding neighborhood is feasible. Barrie Park, a similar Superfund site in Oak Park, IL, was recently cleaned up to Illinois EPA park & residential standards.
• Cleanup of the Celotex site in Little Village is affordable and will take less then $50 million, which the USEPA is NOT enforcing.

The USEPA heard from Community members in a public meeting 10 years ago that the site should be remediated for public use. Those plans have remained the same yet the USEPA is ignoring both our health and the environment. Community members fought to enforce and won full residential Remediation without any support from the USEPA. Now we are once again fighting the Agency that is suppose to protect our human health, the USEPA is claiming that gravel dumped, with no Agency supervision is safe enough for our community. . The U.S. E.P.A. has publicly stated that the site will only be, “Tweaked from Industrial Standards and given to the City of Chicago for a park.” The intervention and negotiation by the U.S. E.P.A have been grossly negligent.

The USEPA recently stated “they are waiting for the City of Chicago to purchase the property before requesting a final report”. This is a perfect example of the USEPA’s gross neglect of the primarily Mexican community of Little Village and of environmental racism. This is a historic trend by corporations to avoid cleanup in low income and minority communities.

The Little Village community demands that the entire site be cleaned up properly to street level, homes should not run the risk of being re-contaminated, and this would allow the park to have much need accommodations such as a field house, swimming pool, gym, and other facilities. This plan should be demanded now before the City acquires the property to ensure the responsible party pays for the cost and not the City of Chicago tax payers. Don’t band aid the Celotex site, clean and cap it and help protect our health.

LVEJO hosts Larry Lohman with 4 pictures

Thanks to the communities hard work in organizing and negotiating with the United States Environmental Protection Agency the clean up of homes has begun. We continue to fight to get the mains its cleaned up.

	YOUTH TRAINING

In July of 2007 LVEJO worked with youth from the Little Village Lawndale High School Summer Program. During there four class partnership LVEJO community organizers and Youth hosted the students on a youth lead Community Asset Toxic Tour. Class work and discussion was followed with workshops specifically on charretts. Students from both LVLHS and LVEJO learned how to host charrettes, in this case specifically around the Celotex park Campaign. All the students agreed that the park should be build on clean and safe land. Two weeks after, LVLHS students hosted a charrette at the HS that was open to community members. Throughout the summer, LVEJO youth worked with Lorena Lopez, Celotex Organizer to host charretts in the community.

The French word, "charrette" means "cart" and is often used to describe the final, intense work effort expended by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline. This use of the term is said to originate from the École des
Beaux Arts in Paris during the 19th century, where proctors circulated a cart, or “charrette”, to collect final drawings while students frantically put finishing touches on their work.

LVEJO charrette works with community members, planners and city officials in a creative and intense workshop. This allows for a planning process that is a collaboration that taps into the talents and skills of the community and allows
for true community planning.

NBC5.com - News

Special Report: It Takes A Little Village

The Celotex site is a “Federal Government United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Superfund site: which means it has dangerous chemicals to humans and the environment”

The USEPA and Honeywell have been working to clean up the Celotex site and the neighbors’ yards for 13 years and so far HAVE DONE NOTHING!

The USEPA has held only 1 “public meeting” to discuss their proposed “clean-up plan”. The meeting was held at West Side Tech in October, 2004: OUTSIDE of the Little Village neighborhood, WITHOUT TELLING the Celotex neighbors or Little Village schools, churches or community based organizations about the meeting

In 13 years Honeywell has failed to put up a secure fence to keep children from playing on the Celotex site
Celotex makes $28.9 BILLION per year. It will cost $50 million to clean up Celotex: that’s how much Honeywell makes in 17 HOURS!†

Celotex neighbors and LVEJO won 2 victories this year 1. By getting Honeywell to agree to put up a secure fence in May, 2006 2. to have Honeywell test the soil in ALL 154 houses that are in the Celotex area (26th St to 31st St and Kedzie to Sacramento)

† Dig Up & Get Rid of ALL the toxic soil on ALL 24 acres of Celotex: make it safe for a park
† The level of Celotex should be the same as the street, not 6 feet above it
† Test the front/backyards of all 154 homes in the Celotex Area the right way for PAH’s
† Clean up the front and back yards of any of the 154 homes that have high PAH levels

-Leave the 24 acre Celotex site as it is (with 3 feet of gravel on the top). This is not a cleanup.
-Only clean up certain homes with their “SAFE” levels of contamination. This is still contaminated!

The cost of digging up the contaminated soil and replacing it with clean soil of 48 homes that have high PAH levels would cost $1.3 Million.

Celotex es un sitio de Superfund “La Agencia de ProtecciÛn del Medio Ambiente de Estados Unidos del Gobierno Federal (USEPA): lo cu·l significa que tiene sustancias quÌmicas peligrosas a humanos y el ambiente”

°El USEPA y Honeywell han estado trabajando para limpiar el sitio de Celotex y las yardas de vecinos durante 13 aÒos y hasta ahora no HAN HECHO NADA!

La USEPA ha tenido sÛlo 1 “Foro Publico” para discutir su plan propuesto “Plan de limpieza”. La reuniÛn se tuvo en West Side Tech en octubre, 2004: Fuera de La Villita, SIN DECIR a los vecinos de Celotex o escuelas de La Villita, las iglesias, la comunidad, las organizaciones acerca de la reuniÛn

En 13 aÒos Honeywell no ha logrado a poner una cerca segura para mantener a niÒos de fuera del sitio de Celotex. Honeywell hace $28.9 billones por aÒo. °Costar· $50 millones para limpiar Celotex: Honeywell hace 50 millones en 17 HORAS!

Los vecinos de Celotex y LVEJO ganaron 2 victorias este aÒo: 1. Obtuvo que Honeywell ponga una cerca segura en mayo, 2006 2. Hacer que Honeywell pruebe la tierra en las 154 casas que est·n en el ·rea de Celotex (26 a hasta 31 y Kedzie a Sacramento)

-Que quieten TODA la tierra tÛxica en 24 acres de Celotex: lo hagan seguro para un parque
-El nivel de Celotex debe ser al nivel de la calle, no 6 pies encima
-Hagan prueba de yarda de enfrente y atr·s de 154 casas en el ¡rea de Celotex en la manera correcta para PAH’s
- Limpiar las yardas de enfrente y atr·s y de cualquiera de las 154 casas que tengan niveles altos de PAH’s
Limpieza General para Honeywell es

-Dejar el sitio de 24 acres de Celotex como esta (con 3 pies de grava encima). Esto no es una limpieza general!
-SÛlo limpia ciertos hogares con su “SEGURO” nivel de contaminaciÛn. °Eso todavÌa esta contaminado!

El costo del limpiar la tierra contaminada y reemplazando con tierra limpia de 48 hogares que tienen los niveles altos de PAH costarÌa $1.3 millones. °Honeywell hace todo este dinero en 23.7 MINUTOS!

LVEJO hosts a Second Meeting with the USEPA, Honeywell, Inc., Northwestern University, Kent School of Law Environmental Clinic, City of Chicago Department of Environment and 15 Little Village (LV) Community Residents from the Celotex Area.

1. The number of homes and apartment buildings whose front and back yards will be sampled for toxic PAH’s (polyaromatic hydrocarbons) is being increased to include all 154 residential properties in the ¼ mile by ½ mile area that surrounds Celotex. This area is bounded by Sacramento on the east, Kedzie on the west, 26 th St. on the north and 31 st St. on the south.

3. Each house will have 15 soil samples taken: 5 holes at 3 different depths per hole

Although a fence was repaired and replaced in some areas, there are several areas in need of further repair and replacement. In addition LV residents asked Honeywell to put fencing bars/tubes on the bottom of each fence section, some children could not crawl under onto the contaminated PAH soil at Celotex.

Lorena Lopez, LVEJO Celotex organizer, showed everyone digital photos of the fence problems taken the morning of the meeting.

Finally, the residents asked Honeywell to put up English and Spanish signs warning the community not to enter Celotex because it was dangerous, contaminated with toxins that could make anyone sick.

The concern for a public park on the Celotex site was reiterated and questions were raised as to where the City of Chicago was in moving forward with either purchasing the land or plans for a park. LV residents were in favor of a park, but only if the PAH toxins were removed from the property, not covered up by gravel. The Representative from the City of Chicago Dept. of Environment stated that she would request information as to where the City of Chicago was in those points.

The USEPA passed on a Honeywell proposed residential soil sampling work plan for homes: a 7 step process that will be completed by November, 2006. The work plan will be reviewed by LV residents, LVEJO and the LVEJO lawyers. Public comments will be sent to the USEPA by Wednesday, May 10 th, 2006.

If you want to join the Celotex Clean Our Land Campaign please contact Lorena Lopez at LVEJO.

Summary of Celotex Worskshop
Wed. April 5, 2006 - 9:30 a.m.
Facilitators: Lorena Lopez & Eduardo Anaya

Workshop Summary:
Welcome and Introduction was hosted by both Facilitators with an overview of the agenda for the workshop. The Ice Breaker followed with participants coming down to the front of the auditorium and creating a big circle. They stated their name and gave a high five to the person on there right, this kicked off the High Five activity. Eduardo gave an example how the activity was going to be played. With everyone in a big circle, we ask a question if the response is something they relate to, they will come into the middle and give a high five. The activity got the participants talking and excited about meeting each other.
Example of High Five Questions:
1. Todos los que est·n usando un cinto negro - Everyone who wears a Black Belt?
2. Todos los que quieren un jardÌn limpio - Everyone who wants a Safe Garden?

After everyone sat down Kim Wasserman, Coordinator, gave a brief description about the organization. We then moved on to asking participants if they knew where Celotex was. Based off of the response we asked for home addresses to show their homes and the proximity to the site and give an idea of where Celotex is located. The workshop participants seemed impressed by the size of the Celotex site. We reviewed the History of the Site, When it was built and what was created there. When asked if they knew what asphalt roofing products are, most said no. We reviewed what they were and moved on to How Celotex affects us. After the brief description participants asked questions like “How do we know if we were affected by this chemicals and can we test PAH’s in our body? Both Facilitators and LVEJO Coordinator answered all the questions.

Next we reviewed the street boundaries that LVEJO believes the contamination may have reached. They are 25th Street to 31st Street and Kedzie St. to Sacramento Ave.
None of the participants knew what a Superfund Site, we reviewed the facts of the classifications and most participants did not know that they lives do close to a site like this. From here we reviewed who the USEPA is and what they are proposing to do on the Celotex Site and the surrounding homes.
After the Presentation of the Original workplan, the workshop participants asked:
How come nothing has been done with this site?
Why has nobody ever told us about this site?
Could we build a school on top of the site?
Both facilitators answered these questions and we lead into what Can the Community Do about this and When?
Participant Ideas:
- A March
-We can go to the Alderman Office to pressure the USEPA.
-Get more Neighbors to Come Out

Follow Up:
Toxic Tour around the Celotex Site (May 2006)
Meeting with Block Groups (Ongoing)
PUDDJ (April 8, 2006)

LVEJO hosts Larry Lohman with 4 pictures