Neighbors energized by sped-up closing of power plants
Coal-burners shutting early in deal with city, activists
Pilsen and Little Village residents, activists and supporters gather… (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)
March 01, 2012|By Alexandra Chachkevitch, Chicago Tribune reporter
Residents of Pilsen and Little Village celebrated a victorious end to their long fight for cleaner air on Thursday, exultant over the deal that will shut down two coal-fired power plants that have for years been unwelcome neighbors.
"Ain't no power like the power of the people," chanted about 80 people who gathered Thursday morning at Dvorak Park near the Fisk power plant in Chicago's Pilsen community.
Under a deal announced Wednesday between the city and the plants' owner, Midwest Generation, the Fisk plant will close by the end of this year and the Crawford plant in Little Village will shut down by the end of 2014.
"It's good to know that when people unite, they will be heard," said Leila Mendez, 54, a member of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, one of several groups that worked to raise awareness about the harmful toxins spewed by the plants' smokestacks. "Words cannot describe how I feel."
Chicago is the only major city in the nation that still has coal-burning plants operating within its borders. The plants, built in the early 1900s, are two of the oldest in the U.S., and previous plans called for them to be shut down in 2015 and 2018. Pressure from residents and city officials, along with competition from cleaner energy sources, led Midwest Generation to accelerate the closings.
As a result of Wednesday's agreement, activist groups, including the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and the Sierra Club, will drop their lawsuit against the power company.
The agreement also provides for a community advisory council made up of residents, activists and Midwest Generation representatives that will develop a plan to clean up and sell the property where the plants sit, said Faith Bugel, a senior attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
According to a 2010 Clean Air Task Force study, the two plants are responsible for about 42 premature deaths, 720 asthma attacks and 66 heart attacks. A 2010 National Research Council report said the plants lead to about $127 million in hidden health costs per year.
Margarita Bravo, 49, a member of the Pilsen Alliance who has been protesting the plants for a year, said her nephew Gumaro Martinez, 13, has had asthma since he was 4 months old.
"We're happy that they're finally going to close (the plants)," Bravo said. "Too many people have been affected by them."
