Michael Hawthorne – Page 10

The Waukegan Generating Station on Lake Michigan, owned by NRG Energy, is ringed by ash ponds May 12, 2021, in Waukegan.

Toxic waste left behind by coal-fired power plants could endanger drinking water for years to come

June 14, 2021 at 4:48 p.m.

Burning coal to generate electricity is fast becoming an artifact of a bygone era in Illinois. But while most of the state's coal-fired power plants will be scrapped before the...

Old lead piping is removed from a home in Galesburg on March 4, 2021.

Chicago gets 50 years to replace lead service lines, way longer than other Illinois cities

May 27, 2021 at 8:25 p.m.

Illinois is on the verge of requiring utilities to replace toxic lead pipes at the same time new street mains are installed — a significant change that would protect millions...

The site of a scrap shredder under construction by Reserve Management Group on the Southeast Side on Oct. 29, 2020. The land is part of the former Republic Steel/LTV mill.

Scrap shredder sues Chicago for reneging on deal to fast-track opening on the heavily polluted Southeast Side

May 19, 2021 at 2:17 p.m.

A clout-heavy scrap dealer is suing the city for more than $100 million, accusing Mayor Lori Lightfoot of reneging on a deal to fast-track a new metals shredder in one...

The Medline Industries facilities can be seen May 12, 2021, in Waukegan. People living near Medline Industries in north suburban Waukegan had higher levels of the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide in their bloodstream than others who live farther away, according to test results from a federally funded study in 2019.

Medline and Sterigenics haven’t reported cancer-causing ethylene oxide emissions to the EPA’s pollution inventory for years

May 17, 2021 at 6:15 p.m.

Nearly every major industrial source of ethylene oxide makes it relatively easy for Americans to know how much of the cancer-causing gas drifts into surrounding communities. The only outliers are...

Activist Gregory Miller speaks as protesters pause at Diversey and Milwaukee avenues in Chicago March 4, 2021. The group is opposed to Reserve Management Group opening a new scrap metal shredding facility along the Calumet River at 116th Street in Chicago. Before marching, they rallied near the home of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Lightfoot orders new study of Southeast Side pollution after Biden EPA and neighborhood activists raise concerns about proposed scrap shredder

May 7, 2021 at 9:27 p.m.

Under pressure from the Biden administration, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday indefinitely delayed making a final decision about a proposed scrap shredder in one of the nation's most polluted areas....

New plastic pipe to replace centuryold iron pipes at West Cortland and North Honore streets in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood on Dec. 14, 2020.

As deaths from burning coal decline, natural gas now a leading hazard, study shows

May 5, 2021 at 9:12 p.m.

Pollution from natural gas is now responsible for more deaths and greater health costs than coal in Illinois, according to a new study highlighting another hazard of burning fossil fuels...

Kyle McCradic gets ready to replace an old lead service line from a water main with new polyethylene tubing in Galesburg on March 4, 2021.

Illinois House backs replacement of brain-damaging lead service lines, but wants Biden and Congress to pay for the work

April 23, 2021 at 6:12 p.m.

Chicago would get more than three decades to replace toxic lead pipes under legislation that cleared an important hurdle Friday in Springfield. The Illinois House approved the measure on a...

Cyclists ride past a Sterigenics facility at 7775 S. Quincy St. on Dec. 15, 2018, in Willowbrook.

Trump appointees blocked EPA from investigating ethylene oxide polluters and prevented staff from warning Americans about the cancer-causing gas, report says

April 16, 2021 at 11:41 a.m.

Industry-connected political appointees in the Trump administration blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from investigating ethylene oxide polluters and prevented career staff from warning thousands of Americans who live near...

Wind turbines in rural McLean County on April 14, 2021.

Subsidizing 2 more Exelon nuclear plants key to meeting Pritzker’s climate goals, audit finds

April 15, 2021 at 4:03 p.m.

Another round of subsidies for Illinois' nuclear power plants is justified to help meet Gov. J.B. Pritzker's goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by midcentury, according to an audit of ComEd's...

Children play in Amoco Park in the shadow of the BP refinery in Whiting on June 18, 2013.

Federal judge slaps BP for emitting too much lung-damaging soot from its Whiting refinery on Lake Michigan

April 15, 2021 at 2:58 p.m.

BP repeatedly violated federal limits on lung-damaging soot from its Whiting refinery in northwest Indiana, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a decision that targeted one of the biggest sources...

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