Wednesday Journal
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The release last year of the Chicago Cumulative Impact Assessment found that Austin, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park and North Lawndale communities are among the areas disproportionately impacted by higher heat-related illnesses, industry pollution, increased amounts of ground level ozone and particulate matter, flooding, lack of green space, higher density of buildings and pavement — and historic disinvestment.
All of these environmental conditions intersect to play a role in the life-expectancy gap between Black and white Chicagoans. Studies show on average, Black Chicagoans live 8.8 years less than whites do.
Austin Weekly News spoke with Grace V. Johnson Adams, a spokesperson with the Chicago Department of Public Health to see which actions are being considered and put in place to deal with the environmental injustice.
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is achieved when all residents have the same degree of protections from environmental and health hazards.
AWN: Since the release of the assessment, which actionable measures have been put in place so far to address the study’s findings?
CDPH: Several actions have been taken already since the release of the Cumulative Impact Assessment in September 2023 to address the findings. For example, one Environmental Justice Action Plan tactic called for at least 5,000 trees to be planted per year in targeted communities using tree canopy data, and 78% of trees planted in 2023 in the arterial tree planting program were in priority areas. Additional measures began before or during the Assessment process and have continued since then, such as the development and implementation of a data collection strategy to inform and report on the effectiveness of community engagement activities. There are other measures that have not yet begun, but will be completed per the Environmental Justice Action Plan.
CDPH and community partners, including Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the UIC School of Public Health’s Environmental and Occupational Health Science, are co-leading a community air monitoring network strategy, with a focus on environmental justice neighborhoods. A planning award for co-developing this strategy is provided by The Partnership for Healthy Cities and funding from the Chicago Recovery Plan will be used to implement a co-developed and sustainable community air monitoring network and create a unified public-facing platform for air quality data. Once operational, the air monitoring network will address the identified data gap of local air quality in Chicago from the CIA.
AWN: What is the Environmental Justice Action Plan?
CDPH: The Interdepartmental Environmental Justice Working Group was formed in March 2023 by the Department of Environment and the Department of Public Health to ensure that all city departments are working together to promote environmental justice by identifying and addressing inequities. Out of this group came the Environmental Justice Action Plan, which includes dozens of specific, actionable policy changes that can be implemented in partnership with more than 10 city departments. The city committed to publishing an annual report based on progress made toward the Environmental Justice Action Plan, beginning in December 2023. The first version of the report was released December 22.
AWN: Are there any pending ordinances, strategies, policies being considered to address heat zones, and the other environmental issues residents on Chicago’s West Side are facing?
CDPH: The cumulative impact ordinance is currently being drafted and is expected to be introduced to City Council this year. Additionally, work through the Defusing Disasters Working Group, which encompasses researchers, public health officials, policy advisors, emergency management teams and community partners, will leverage data and local knowledge to identify those most vulnerable to extreme heat in Chicago’s communities. Last summer, researchers and local community members began collecting the data needed to characterize heat vulnerabilities through Chicago’s Heat Watch 2023 initiative as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Heat Watch Campaign, which aims to help cities across the U.S. identify specific neighborhoods where heat-mitigating interventions could save lives. Now, the Defusing Disasters Working Group is creating heat vulnerability tools that function at both the community and clinical levels. The community-level tool will be used operationally by the City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication and CDPH in both emergency prevention/response and long-term mitigation contexts. The clinical tool will be used at the doctor-patient level to identify and protect at-risk individuals. Actions remain in progress, and as additional information becomes available, CDPH and DOE will continue to share these updates with Chicago residents, especially those in community areas.”
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