The Chicago City Council has passed an ordinance barring new petroleum coke and coal facilities and preventing existing sites from expanding, adding to regulations the city’s Department of Public Health finalized in March.
The new rules the council approved at its meeting on 30 April are “the most aggressive, most proactive measures by a municipality in the US that require stringent reporting to the city and actually allows the city of Chicago to take action, including reducing the amount of materials at these sites,” alderman John Pope, co-sponsor of the ordinance, said.
The ordinance says that storage, loading and unloading and processing of coke or coal is not permitted in any zoning district of the city, with the exception of facilities that have been in continuous operation for at least one year. There is also an exception for cement manufacturing facilities that have a construction permit and a New Source Review approval from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The ordinance, based on a proposal from mayor Rahm Emanuel, prohibits any enlargement of existing coke and coal facilities and requires them to submit quarterly reports detailing the total volume of coke and coal received, shipped from the facility and stored on site.
The city’s commissioner of planning and development will use the information collected to determine, within the next three years, if the city should impose limitations on coke and coal throughput.
The ordinance does not go far enough for a number of local residents, who say they still want to see an outright ban. On 28 April, local activist group the Southeast Environmental Task Force and the Natural Resources Defense Council gave notice of intent to sue Charles and David Koch and a number of their companies, including KCBX Terminals, which is storing coke in Chicago.
Aderman Bob Fioretti agreed with the groups that the regulations do not go far enough and was the sole member to vote against the ordinance. “We need to do something much stronger,” Fioretti said.
But other legislators said the ordinance is the farthest the city can go within the boundaries of the law. “Representatives from [the] law department … frankly made it very clear that the city has exhausted every possible legal option to address this issue,” alderman Brendan Reilly said. “I would argue that the city of Chicago is doing all it possibly can.”
KCBX, one of the major coke storage facilities that has been under fire in the city, said that it “will continue to ensure that our operations remain compliant with all local, state and federal regulations.” It is evaluating its ability to comply with the public health regulations issued in March. Those regulations would require the company to build a structure to enclose coke and coal stockpiles.
The company is also reviewing its critics’ notice to sue, but pointed out that it has invested $30mn at the terminal it acquired from DTE in 2012, including a dust suppression system similar to one that earned praise from the Southeast Environmental Task Force in the past.
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