Dust-Up for the City in a Garden

May 23, 2014- The city motto of Chicago is Urbs in Horto, Latin for "City in a Garden." Today, that urban garden is under threat from the health and environmental impact of dust and particulate matter in the form of petroleum coke.

Now, two environmental groups, the Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), have submitted their intent to sue a number of companies controlled by Charles and David Koch, including the KCBX Terminals Company, and the Koch brothers personally in federal court over the enormous oil refining waste and coal on the Southeast Side of Chicago.

In a blog post titled "NRDC and Southeast Environmental Task Force Signal Toxic Waste Suit on Horizon," enewspf.com is reporting that the intent to sue is a response to "complaints by neighbors and government authorities that dust emanating from the facilities has blackened the skies of the area, invaded homes, and polluted the Calumet River."

"It is thoroughly unacceptable for these piles to sit just a few hundred yards from people’s houses, said Southeast Environmental Task Force executive director Peggy Salazar, quoted in the post. "People are complaining about finding dust from these sites inside their homes. Black dust is coating their houses and probably their lungs," she said. "This has to stop. And hopefully this suit will achieve that."

The sources of the airborne dust particles are massive piles of petroleum coke (also called petcoke) and coal, especially when moved or exposed to wind. When inhaled, the particulates are harmful to human health and have been associated with cardiac and respiratory conditions including decreased lung function, asthma and premature death.

The situation has been exacerbated as the nearby BP refinery completes its expansion to allow for processing Canada's heavy tar sands oil, effectively tripling the location's petcoke production. Two Koch-owned sites collect the petcoke and other byproducts into massive uncovered piles which have grown to five stories in height at times.

The enewspf.com post states the SETF and NRDC plan to ask a court to order Koch to remedy the petcoke piles’ health and environmental threats under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The groups seek funding for studies to better understand the hazards and better contain the threats from potential containment releases.

Read the full enewspf.com post here.

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