People there are trying but the laws need change
There have been protests
ILL, Attrny General last year sued them
alleging violations of the state’s Environmental Protection Act
this is not new news in Illinois
of course the media is not heralding it nationwide
not much comment/concern on DU last summer
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112755549
Complaints to the Illinois EPA about the massive mounds of petcoke along the Calumet River increased markedly in December, when KCBX, the Koch subsidiary, acquired the riverfront terminal from DTE Energy, which previously held the contract to move the petcoke from BP’s Whiting (Indiana)refinery, according to the lawsuit filed by the state attorney general.
There will be a growing amount of petcoke that is coming to these areas,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “To the extent that there is already a problem, there is grave concern that there will be a much larger problem very soon.”
The clashes over the petcoke piles in the Midwest are the latest example of the
wide-reaching consequences of the North American energy boom, which can impact municipalities in unexpected ways
.Last winter, Marathon Oil completed a $2.2 billion upgrade to its Detroit refinery, which included a near doubling of its coking capacity.
By spring, Detroiters were protesting the mountains of black pebbly material rising up along the waterfront.
Methods of controlling dust with water sprayers have long been in place in California and the Gulf coasts, but rules in Midwestern states are generally less strict. That puts neighbors of the petcoke mounds at risk, said Tom Zimmerman, a lawyer representing residents in the Chicago class-action lawsuit.
http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/08/21370499-illin
Why, when this story comes up, does no one care about it? - The people there do care
Home of the now defunct Wisconsin Steel Works, originally the Joseph H. Brown Iron and Steel Company, which opened in 1875 and was the first steel mill in the entire Calumet region. Since the closing of the plant, the neighborhood has gone through an economic depression. Louis Rosen documented the racial transition of this and nearby communities in his 1998 book The South Side: The Racial Transformation of an American Neighborhood.[3]
South Deering
Population (2010)
• Total 15,109
• Density 1,700/sq mi (660/km2)
Demographics 2010[1]
• White 4.8%
• Black 61.91%
• Hispanic 31.83%
• Asian 0.12%
• Other 1.34%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Deering,_Chicago
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