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Campaigns | Park Facilities | 31st & Central Park | Coverage - Events - Research

Last year 4,000 of us said WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DECIDE what will happen to the 11 acres of public land at 31st & Central Park. We said "Yes, build the plastics factory , but at 35th & Pulaski where no one lives, where there is plenty of open space, and where it is better for the factory's trucks since it is closer to the Stevenson Expressway". But Mayor Daley, the City's department of Planning, City Council, and Alderman Munoz didn't listen: they voted to sell the land to MRC Plastics in November 2000.

If the City of Chicago (Department of Planning and Economic Development) and Alderman Ricardo Muñoz goes ahead with their plan to sell 11 acres of city land at 31st & Central Park to a private plastics recycling factory along with tax breaks and low-interest loans it will be a clear violation of the civil rights of Little Village residents, 95% of whom are Latino.

Civil Rights Violation #1: City of Chicago Commits Environmental Racism

In 1992 President Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order mandating that all federal agencies develop strategies to overcome environmental racism. The Executive Order also applies to all public entities that receive federal funding (this of course includes the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District).

As part of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act any recipient of federal funding has to ensure non-discrimination. Any practices that are discriminatory racially including land use allocation and rezoning would fall under a Title VI violation.

Any increased toxic burden on residents of any community in the United States that is already overburdened with toxins is a violation of their civil rights.

The City of Chicago will clearly be committing a racist act: stealing public land meant for a park and instead placing a plastics recycling factory that is an increased toxic burden on the people of Little Village who already are disproportionately burdened with environmental toxins.

In the case of Little Village, officially known as City of Chicago Community Area #30 : South Lawndale) the USEPA's own 1998 statistics: Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and AIRS data (both available on their web site) clearly show that the community has the third worst amount of air pollution and total toxins in the metropolitan area of Chicago.

Little Village has been recognized by the USEPA as an environmental justice community by the fact that LVEJO has received three federal environmental justice grants from 1995-2000.

The plastics factory would be built across the street from where hundreds of people live. The process they use is to crush different types of plastic (including CD's), sending millions of often-invisible particles into the air, use chemicals to decolorize the plastic and then reformulate it into cubes or pellets. A plastics recycling factory would be a clear additional toxin burden.

It would increase the diesel truck traffic along 31st st, an already severely overcrowded street that is one of the ten worst diesel corridors in the City of Chicago:

v A 1999 report by the Chicago Metropolitan Lung Association showed that half of all Little Village residents are living in Dirty Diesel Hot Spots as documented by their Dirty Diesel/Asthma Report. 31st Street, Pulaski Road, Kedzie Ave. and Ogden Ave. (all in Little Village) are 4 of the 10 worst dirty diesel corridors in the City of Chicago. The Stevenson Expressway, loaded with diesel trucks, is the southern border of Little Village

Plastics Recycling factories have the potential of having some of the most toxic fires recorded. A 1997 Plastimet fire near Hamilton, Ontario was one of Canada's worst toxic fires in history. Major evacuations of the population are often necessary during these fires.

Bordered by railroad freight lines on all 4 sides, dirty diesel corridors and some industries that operate through the night, Little Village is already overburdened by noise. This factory across the street from where hundreds of residents live would add to that burden.

The fact that the city would take already public land meant for a park (in 1998 the Chicago Park District designed a park for 4 of the 11 acres of the property) and rezone it for industrial use is a clear cut violation of Title VI of the 1963 Civil Rights Act and an act of environmental racism by the City of Chicago.

Civil Rights Violation #2: The Chicago Park District (CPD)
The CPD has a long history of racism toward African American and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. A major civil rights suit was filed against the CPD in the late 1970's and a consent decree was developed and "implemented" in 1979. Little Village (South Lawndale, Community Area #30) was one of the community areas cited in the consent decree. The only benefit Little Village received from the decree was an outdoor swimming in its only park. In fact the original agreement called for a major indoor swimming facility.

Over the past two decades the respected Chicago Reporter has consistently documented that inner city African American and Latino neighborhoods continue to not receive their fair share of funding, park space, facilities, staff and programs. In 1998 the Reporter found that Latino wards in Chicago are the worst off in park facilities and staff.

Since that time the CPD has built no new parks, added no new facilities to Little Village or any other nearby communities. In fact in the closest large park, Douglas, the soccer fields on the south side of Ogden are more deteriorated than ever with children breaking bones in the holes as they run. On the north side of Ogden, the CPD closed the swimming lake in 1999 and this year.

Aware of this, both the City of Chicago Open Space staff (also part of the Planning & Economic Development Department) and staff of CPD toured the 11 acre site at 31st & Central Park in 1997 and 1998. A plan for a 4-acre park was developed by the CPD.

But now in a letter sent from CPD superintendent David Doig to Alderman Muñoz 4 weeks ago the superintendent states that the CPD refuses to consider the site for a park because of environmental concerns (it is near existing industry). However, last year, the CPD built a major extension of Dvorak Park in Pilsen across the street from one of the two coal burning electrical plants in Chicago, a far bigger and potentially dangerous (in case of a fire) polluter than the local industry that exists near the 11 acre parcel.

Mr. Doig comes from the city's Department of Planning and Economic Development. Assistant Commissioner Bill Trumbull of Planning and Development happened to send a letter to Alderman Muñoz 2 days later stating that the land should be used for industry. What a coincidence!

So the city wants to sell 11 acres of publicly owned land across the street from hundreds of people live because it has environmental concerns. To resolve these concerns the city proposes to build another polluter, potentially more dangerous than the industry that already exists there, except that this polluter will be much closer to where a greater number of people live.

Is this part of Mayor Daley's plan for greening the city or does greening only apply to downtown and certain neighborhoods?

The people of Little Village charge racism also against the CPD. This act of refusing to develop an 11 acre site into a park continues the CPD's racist history to inner city people of color.

We refuse to accept this! If necessary we will fight them on the basis of a clear violation of our civil rights. They refuse to develop new parks, facilities, programs and staff. In fact a close examination of the CPD's budget this year reveals cutbacks in park programming.

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