Last night, August 2, the Clean Power Lake County (CPLC) coalition and the Sierra Club mobilized 150 Waukegan members and allies to participate in an Illinois Protection Acency (IEPA) public hearing. IEPA held the meeting to discuss a permit for NRG Energy, a Fortune 250 company. Such permits pertain to monitoring, record-keeping, and reporting on plant emissions and allow for citizen intervention in the event of a violation.
The NRG Energy coal-fired power plant, above, was named one of the nation's worst environmental justice offenders in a 2012 NAACP report. The report, entitled Coal Blooded: Putting Profits before People, states: "An analysis of the physical effects of the coal industry reveal that it is important to consider not only climate change, but also environmental justice, or the disproportionate location and impact of coal-fired power plant activity." The fact of the matter is that "nearly six million Americans live within three miles of a coal power plant... [and] coal power plants tend to be disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities of color".
In Waukegan, the Sierra Club and other dedicated community members and allies made their point of view heard at the IEPA Federal Clean Air Act (Title V) - operating permit hearing.
It's time to #ActOnClimate and move #BeyondCoal for a #CleanWaukegan!
The Illinois Pollution Control Board gave the green light to a lawsuit, brought by a coalition of groups including the Sierra Club, against NRG Energy due to groundwater quality-control issues. Newly-discovered coal ash ponds near NRG's active Illinois coal-fired power plants are of particular concern.
"Lake Michigan and the Waukegan lakefront are the crown jewels of Lake County." -- Waukegan Fourth Ward Alderman, David Villalobos
Sierra Club activists Erin Crilly, Chrissy Mann, Elizabeth Scrafford, and Caroline Wooten joined the annual CPLC Beach cleanup in Waukegan, pictured above.
“Coal plants kill--and low-income communities and communities of color experience the highest mortality burden.” -- Coal-Blooded: Putting Profits Before People
A number of CPLC volunteer leaders stepped up to the microphone in solidarity with the people of Waukegan and spoke at the IEPA hearing.
First-time speakers Cathy Colton, Kathryn Kinder, and Jae Pak, and Karen Long MacLeod and Diane & Doug Owen, were joined by partners Yuridia Carbajal of the Most Blessed Trinity Parish, Evan Craig and Barbara Klipp of the Sierra Club, Joe Dubaniewicz of Green Town Waukegan, Mary Mathews of the League of Women Voters, Kelly Nichols of Moms Clean Air Force, and other residents with clean energy messages for the IEPA.
Faith Bugel of the Environmental Law & Policy Center joined Sierra Club organizers Allison Fisher, Christine Nannicelli, Holly Bender, Shelly Campbell, Debra Cohen, Emily Rosenwasser, and Greg Wannier in contributing the necessary legal, logistical, digital, and media support.
And though Sierra Club super-volunteer and Beyond Coal campaign activist Verena Owen could not attend, she, too, worked to inspire these inspiring #CleanWaukegan activists.
Above, activists celebrate the events of the day and their commitment to continue working toward a clean Waukegan.
"I've been organizing in Waukegan for a year and a half now, and I am humbled by the grit and determination of this community to build a better future. It's an absolute honor to work with Clean Power Lake County." -- Illinois Beyond Coal organizer Alexander Morgan