Michael Hawthorne

Ryan Bennett, an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency geologist, collects samples of treated Lake Michigan water in a laboratory at the Wilmette water treatment plant on July 3, 2021. An analysis of the samples detected a pair of toxic PFAS chemicals at levels up to 600 times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest health advisory.

More than 8 million Illinoisans get drinking water from a utility where forever chemicals have been detected, Tribune investigation finds

June 14, 2024 at 6:44 p.m.

Something as simple as drinking tap water is exposing millions of Illinoisans to toxic chemicals that build up in human blood, cause cancer and other diseases and take years to...

DuPont's Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Persistent farmer whose cows died from a mysterious disease helped unravel the origin of toxic chemicals

June 14, 2024 at 6:45 p.m.

If Wilbur Earl Tennant's cows hadn't died from a mysterious wasting disease during the 1990s, the world might have never learned about the secret history of toxic forever chemicals. Tennant...

A new water well will replace PFAS-contaminated wells near the old water treatment plant in Freeport, Illinois, Aug. 24, 2021. Freeport is one of the Illinois cities where PFAS chemicals were tested for and detected in drinking water.

The origin of these highly toxic man-made chemicals

June 14, 2024 at 6:45 p.m.

PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, highly toxic man-made chemicals used in industrial and consumer products since the 1950s. The chemicals have been added to nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant...

The Reserve Management Group has been planning to move the General Iron scrap shredding facility from its now-closed Lincoln Park location to this site on the Calumet River in the East Side neighborhood of Chicago.

Mayor Lightfoot denies permit to Southeast Side scrap shredder; company vows to fight on, saying process ‘hijacked’ by ‘false narratives’

February 18, 2022 at 7:10 p.m.

Faced with an outcry from neighborhood activists, federal civil rights investigations and pressure from the Biden administration, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday blocked a clout-heavy scrap shredder from opening on...

Oscar Sanchez, who participated in the hunger strike agains General Iron, speaks during a press conference denouncing RMG's plan to open its scrap shredder on the Southeast Side of the city on Feb. 16, 2022, at City Hall in Chicago.

‘It is a matter of life and death.’ Southeast Side residents and officials call for permit for scrap shredder to be rejected

February 16, 2022 at 6:56 p.m.

Southeast Side residents, angry and frustrated about the prospect of another source of air pollution in their corner of Chicago, urged Mayor Lori Lightfoot again Wednesday to block a scrap...

Ben Macuga, a biology researcher from the Indiana University Northwest, takes water samples from Burns Ditch at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk for testing on Aug. 21, 2019. The National Park Service closed the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk beach areas and waters at Indiana Dunes National Park due to a chemical spill.

Indiana steel mill to pay $3 million for dumping toxins into Lake Michigan tributary that led to fish kill and beach closures

February 15, 2022 at 8:16 a.m.

One of the biggest polluters of Lake Michigan agreed Monday to pay $3 million in fines after a previous owner dumped a plume of concentrated ammonia and cyanide into a...

Locomotives are seen in a rail yard on South Western Avenue in Chicago on Jan. 18, 2022.

Chicago ranks 3rd in US in deaths and health costs related to diesel pollution, analysis shows

January 20, 2022 at 1:18 p.m.

People around the world breathed cleaner air after the economy ground to a halt during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. But Chicago and its suburbs missed out on...

The Sugar Camp coal mine near Benton in southern Illinois on Sept. 16, 2021.

State sues company for dumping toxic chemicals into southern Illinois coal mine in unsuccessful attempt to extinguish underground fire

January 10, 2022 at 10:39 a.m.

Owners of a southern Illinois coal mine violated multiple state laws by dumping toxic foam deep underground in an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish a fire, according to a new lawsuit...

Jay Rivera, Joliet chief water plant operator, walks away after checking the water level at well 24D in Joliet on Feb. 23, 2021. He said 24D is drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet and measured the water level at 970 feet below the ground.

Three big natural gas plants would wipe out climate gains from recent shutdowns of coal-fired plants in Illinois

December 28, 2021 at 1:57 p.m.

Shunning climate-changing fossil fuels is turning out to be more difficult than promised in Illinois. Two weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law billed as the nation's most aggressive...

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