May 7, 2018 Mayor Rahm Emanuel Office of the Mayor 121 N LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602 Commissioner Julie Morita Chicago Department of Public Health 333 S. State Street, Room 200 Chicago, IL 60604 Dear Mayor Emanuel and Commissioner Morita, Our April 24, 2018 meeting--with your team, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)--was an important step forward. We welcome that CDPH is responding to our calls for action on manganese by conducting more testing, and that you shared the recent soil sampling results from the neighborhood closest to S.H. Bell and referral to USEPA for further evaluation and discussed the community engagement plan. But, more is needed to protect our communities from this and the cumulative pollution that burdens the Southeast Side. The state and federal regulatory agencies and City of Chicago departments have not applied the lens of environmental injustice—the inequitable exposure of communities of color, and communities in poverty, to environmental risks—so that we can adequately address the ongoing cumulative impacts of years of exposure to petroleum coke, manganese, diesel emissions, abandoned piles of arc and flue ash and many other dangerous sources of fugitive dust and pollution. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the City and other agencies in a process that is equitable in order to ensure our community is safe from toxins, and provides a safe and healthy city for people to live and work. Over the last year, evidence has confirmed what residents with brown siding already know: Manganese is a problem in this community. S.H. Bell’s manganese dust emissions have registered above the federal health screening threshold at air monitors. Recent inspections and other enforcement investigations have confirmed that manganese is leaving the fenceline at S.H. Bell along with Watco, North American Stevedoring and American Zinc Recycling (formerly Horsehead), and entering the community. Now the City’s soil sampling of areas next to S.H. Bell show results above the USEPA emergency removal threshold, making even more clear that residents face potentially dangerous levels of exposure to manganese, a neurotoxin. Of course, this information adds to the 1 backdrop that residents have been subject to past high levels of particulate matter from petroleum coke and diesel truck emissions and a host of other pollutants associated with heavy industrial activity. The City Council’s recent passage of the manganese ordinance represents a vital step because it halts new and expanded manganese handling facilities in our community. The proposed amendments to the bulk material rules reflect the recognition that the existing rules were not designed with manganese in mind. We look forward to participating in the public comment process for the revised rules to ensure that the amendments provide the appropriate measures to evaluate and prevent fugitive manganese dust emissions. While these efforts are welcome, they are insufficient to protect the Southeast Side residents. Thus, we call on the City of Chicago to take the following steps: 1. Issue a temporary moratorium on manganese handling on the Southeast Side, until these operations can be designed and operated in a way that does not pose a risk to public health and does not put the burden of surveillance on the community and the City. 2. Work with community leaders and public health experts to develop a better understanding of the risk to community members who have already been exposed to manganese because they live on contaminated soil and inhale manganese dust from S.H. Bell and other facilities in their neighborhood. 3. Issue a moratorium on all new industrial permits – including those in planned manufacturing districts and those for planned developments, bulk storage handlers and warehouses – until the City adopts a comprehensive set of ordinances and rules that incorporates upfront the voice and vision of the impacted communities, and ensures protection from cumulative pollution burdens. 4. Plan and hold a meeting by June 30 with CDPH, Planning and Development, Plan Commission, Health and Environment Committee, Zoning Committee, Chicago Department of Transportation, to inform them of the manganese emissions and soil contamination, as well as other contaminants in our community, and develop a clear set of roles and responsibilities for responding to the environmental injustice in our communities. 2 In that spirit, we welcome the upcoming opportunities for the community to engage with CDPH and restate our commitments over the next several months: 1. 2. 3. 4. CDPH’s May 10, 2018 Town Hall meeting with community leader participation Bimonthly meetings between CDPH and the community leaders CDPH’s improved outreach to healthcare providers Public hearing regarding the proposed amendments to the Bulk Materials Rules in the community on May 30, 2018 and extended written comment period ending on in early June 2018. The Southeast Side should be a place where families can thrive in a healthy and clean environment. We want to work with the City to further a healthy vision for our community where we can attract green businesses. Sincerely, /s/ Peggy Salazar Peggy Salazar, Director Southeast Environmental Task Force 773-646-0436 peggy_setf@sbcglobal.net /s/ Olga Bautista Olga Bautista Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke 773-712-4956 Obautista58@gmail.com /s/ Kelly Nichols Kelly Nichols Moms Clean Air Force 917-544-1214 knihcols@momscleanairforce.org /s/ Sheilah Garland Sheilah Garland National Nurses United-Illinois 312-491-4915 sgarland@nationalnursesunited.org /s/ Meleah Geerstma Meleah Geerstma Natural Resources Defense Council 312-663-9900 mgeerstma@nrdc.org 3