This January, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that its proposed dredged waste landfill along the Lake Michigan shoreline goes against Illinois law. The Alliance of the Southeast and Friends of the Parks, represented by ELPC, filed a lawsuit in 2023 to block the toxic dump from being built on Chicago’s Southeast Side, in a community that is already overburdened with contamination. This lakefront site, just north of Calumet Park, has long been promised to become a park.
“Illinois EPA’s action is a vital step forward to the long-delayed victory for protecting our environment and the Great Lakes and for protecting people in environmental justice communities in Chicago,” said ELPC CEO & Executive Director Howard Learner. “Chicago’s lakefront is for people and parks, not toxic waste dumps.”
Last week, ELPC and partners reached a settlement with Ameren to integrate grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) into transmission planning in its Illinois service territory. GETs save ratepayers money by optimizing transmission lines so less electricity is wasted and existing lines can carry more power, among other benefits.
ELPC and the Michigan Climate Action Network joined Native American tribes and other advocates in Lansing last month to stop the Line 5 tunnel project. Further cementing the 70-year-old oil pipeline across the Straits of Mackinac would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and have long-term climate impacts.
Without wasting time, the Trump administration is rolling back core environmental protections — removing scientific data and cutting funds for bipartisan programs. But ELPC is not stepping back, we’re stepping up to protect the Midwest, hold polluters accountable, and advance common-sense climate solutions.
Founded in 1993, the Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest's leading environmental legal advocacy organization. We advocate, innovate, and litigate to protect the Midwest's environment from the Great Lakes to the Great Plains.
