June 24, 2020
The Honorable J.B. Pritzker
Governor of the State of Illinois
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
John J. Kim, Director
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
1021 North Grand Avenue East P.O. Box 19276
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
Governor Pritzker and Director Kim:
As legislators representing Chicago’s Southeast Side, we’re urging you to call for the denial of
General Iron’s application for a construction permit in our community.
We’re troubled by reports of concerns from north side residents over the public health risks
posed by the General Iron plant especially in light of their desire to relocate to our community.
As you know, residents of the South side are disproportionately affected by respiratory issues
due to a variety of factors including pollution. As our community grapples with the COVID
crisis, now is not the time to fast track a construction permit to a repeat offender of state and
federal environmental regulations.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (“IEPA”) faces a critical decision testing the
agency’s commitment to protecting the health and welfare of my constituents: whether to turn a
blind eye to the long history of environmental infractions of General Iron in its current Lincoln
Park location and grant it a weak, unenforceable permit to move to a recognized environmental
justice community, or to make good on the agency’s duty to protect the rights of all Illinois
residents to a healthful environment and deny a permit to this repeat offender. The agency’s
choice is clear.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has broad authority and a duty to protect the
Southeast Side. This authority includes the discretion to deny permits based on historic
violations. It also includes the duty to write stringent permits that go beyond the minimum
required as necessary to ensure that regulated industry does not “cause or tend to cause air
pollution” and so that those who have polluted our environment do not get a free pass to do so
again. Furthermore, both Congress and the Illinois Assembly have prohibited IEPA from
implementing its duties in ways that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
IEPA’s own environmental justice policy, moreover, recognizes that the agency “supports the
objectives of achieving environmental equity for all of the citizens of Illinois.”
Rather than uphold these duties and commitments, IEPA has proposed to issue a permit that
would enable the relocation of a massive metal shredding facility from a White, wealthy and

 further gentrifying community to an environmental justice community. It is proposing to issue a
permit that lacks any meaningful limits on pollution, while essentially leaving this chronic
polluter to police itself with respect to virtually the same emission sources that the company has
shown time and time again it cannot or will not control. And it is doing so where the applicant's
own air quality modeling shows the potential for violation of the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards.
We urge IEPA to demonstrate its commitment to protecting the public health of all Illinoisans by
preventing further pollution in Black and Brown communities of Chicago’s Southeast side and
deny this permit.
Sincerely,
Senator Robert Peters of the 13th Legislative District
Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. of the 17th Legislative District
Representative Kambium Buckner of the 26th Representative District
Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr. of the 33rd Representative District
Representative Nicholas K. Smith of the 34th Representative District
Representative Curtis J. Tarver, II of the 25th Representative District