A coalition of environmental, health and social justice groups are pushing Mayor Lori Lightfoot to stop adding warehouses and other polluting businesses to already environmentally burdened “sacrifice zones” and said they would draft a proposed ordinance to seek changes in Chicago’s land use and zoning practices.
The newly formed Coalition to End Sacrifice Zones said Wednesday that they cannot wait for a previously promised ordinance from the Lightfoot Administration that would address the cumulative pollution burden Black and Brown communities on the city’s South and West Sides face. A year ago, the mayor said she would develop a plan that would set up tougher environmental reviews around industrial operations. Los Angeles and Minneapolis are among cities with such laws.
