Lightfoot makes pact with HUD to solve environmental racism issues

In her final days in office, former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration agreed to settle an investigation by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The HUD investigation found that City Hall has engaged for years in environmental racism, and Lightfoot vowed that the city will reform its planning, zoning and land-use practices to ensure the issue gets resolved, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. It will be up to new mayor Brandon Johnson, whose tenure began Monday, to make sure this agreement is seen through.

Acts of environmental racism were made evident through the relocation of polluting businesses to low-income communities of color, such as the Southeast Side, from wealthier, mostly white communities including Lincoln Park. In 2020, the city moved General Iron, a car- and metal-shredding operation, from Lincoln Park to East 116th Street along the Calumet River, for example.

Environmental justice is generally defined as preventing low-income communities from experiencing poor air quality and other health hazards tied to being nearby more pollution than wealthier areas. The field acknowledges poorer areas have historically borne a disproportionate burden of environmentally harmful businesses.

As a result of the HUD probe, Lightfoot agreed to initiate a citywide assessment of environmental and health impacts on neighborhoods that already have poor air quality and other pollution. The information obtained from this research will be used to craft reforms. 

The agreement also requires the city to take environmental factors into account when making future planning and zoning decisions. An environmental justice project manager will oversee this process.

“Chicago is listening to the long-standing concerns voiced by environmental justice organizations and community members who have described how intensive industrial operations and commercial transportation affect their neighborhoods, health and quality of life,” Lightfoot said in a written statement.

Mayor Johnson is on board with the pact, expressing commitment to “environmental justice and improving the health of our residents and communities,” he told the outlet.

— Quinn Donoghue