It was only last December that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn visited the southeast side to promote the creation of the great Millennium Reserve—140,000 acres of wildlife and park space ideal for hiking, bird-watching, and Thoreau-like contemplation of nature.
Now, just a few months later, Ninth Ward alderman Anthony Beale, one of the mayor’s City Council allies, is proposing an ordinance that would lift the city’s moratorium on landfills that had been operating near the proposed reserve—meaning the recreational frontier could be threatened by smog, noise, noxious odors, and potential runoff or leaks from the dumping sites.
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In 2004, Mayor Daley and the City Council imposed a 20-year moratorium on all landfill operations. The ban extended citywide, but the greatest impact was on the southeast side—that once-heavily-industrialized corner of the city along the Indiana state line. The area has been home to some of the region’s largest and most noxious-smelling landfill operations for decades.
The moratorium was imposed in part because of pressure from southeast-side environmentalists, such as Peggy Salazar.
As far as Geselbracht knows, no property owners have taken advantage of the law to move in or out of Chicago, but such cases are not uncommon in the suburbs.
Yet the landfill operating fees and taxes will go to Dolton, not Chicago.
For starters, lifting the moratorium opens the doors for other landfill operators, like Waste Management, to resume dumping in their currently closed landfills on the southeast side.
