Getting the lead out? New state law requires water suppliers to submit plans to remove lead service lines

Not only does Illinois have one-eighth of the lead service lines in the country, but 300,000 to 500,000 of them are in Chicago, according to the Illinois Environmental Council.

“Although this is a statewide problem, we know that this toxic infrastructure disproportionately affects Illinois’ people of color,” Robinson said.

“Everyone deserves to have clean drinking water. This will eliminate environmental injustice, and this will ensure that people of color in Illinois are set to get their fair share of the 11,000 jobs that will be created by replacing lead service lines across this great state.”

Read the full article here.

Read More

The upcoming overhaul of the Chicago region’s transit system shows how potent organizing around public services can be.
More than a month after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted work on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, part of a $1.15 billion project to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes, the agency announced last week it would resume construction.
On Aug. 11, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order calling for a pause on data center construction and expansion in the city of Chicago.