Community Spotlight: Altgeld Gardens

Altgeld Gardens is a Chicago neighborhood with many legacies: the deep injustice of toxic industry pollution, the home of the late Hazel M. Johnson (the Mother of environmental justice), and the center of community power working to address harm.

Altgeld Gardens Toxic Tour

This September, I attended a Toxic Tour of the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood in the Lake Calumet Industrial Area through People For Community Recovery (PCR) held by Chicago Asian Americans for Environmental Justice (CAAEJ). A toxic tour reveals the realities of pollution in impacted areas, aiming to inform and motivate action for cleaner, healthier communities. As we rode through the area notoriously nicknamed the "Toxic Donut", we saw rolling hills, lakes, and forests masking a legacy of harsh industrial waste.

Educational sign about Underground Railroad Pathways. Credit: Nishant Shah

Today, the Altgeld Gardens area is on the National Registry of Historic Places because of its legacy as a site on the Underground Railroad and a renowned Chicago Housing Authority project for African American families in the 1940s.

There, we met Cheryl Johnson of People for Community Recovery, who enthusiastically shared the history and stories of her life fighting for environmental justice in her community. Her passion is evident through her work and history of confronting the toxic landfills, PCB Incinerators, high cancer and asthma rates, the Chicago Water Reclamation Site, and even formaldehyde-pickled pigs and sharks dumped in nearby lagoons.

Together, the cumulative exposure of these elements leaches into the air, water, lungs, and bodies of past and present generations residing in Altgeld Gardens and Calumet area communities.

Paxton Landfill Superfund Site. Credit: Nishant Shah

The hills stuck out to us as we rode through different toxic sites on the tour. These hills are capped landfills that release methane gas into the air from hazardous waste placed years ago. Over 50 landfills in the area pose a contamination threat to groundwater by leeching volatile inorganic compounds and heavy metals into the surrounding soil. This includes the Paxton Landfill Superfund Site, which used to be run illegally and now threatens to collapse.

The CID Landfill's methane is converted by Waste Management to electricity, creating yet another industrial site near the community. Pollution and dumping are endless in the area. We passed by the Indian Marsh and Paxton Lagoons which are sites for an abandoned mobile incinerator amongst countless illegal dumping sites.

Indian Marsh and Paxton Lagoons. Credit: Nishant Shah

Nowadays, the only identifiable objects in the marsh and lagoons are formaldehyde-preserved baby sharks and pigs used in medical classes that were dumped at some point but are now surrounded by cand goldenrods. Nearby, a PCB incinerator that used to burn polychlorinated biphenyls (chemicals known to suppress the human immune system, leading to cancer) lies abandoned but still pollutes with its remains. During its lifetime, the factory had several explosions and was ultimately shut down by residents who served as monitors.

Hazel Johnson EJ Way sign outside of Atlgeld Gardens. Credit: Nishant Shah

The last site that stood out to me was the Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago where sewage is treated and purposely placed in an area far away from the city center. Sites like these result in tonnes of sludge and the drying process of the sludge naturally releases many pollutants…along with a horrible smell. The whole facility is located directly across the street from Altgeld Gardens, and the street in between is lovingly named Hazel Johnson EJ Way.

Hazel M. Johnson's environmental justice work

Hazel M. Johnson's impact shows through her decades of work educating community members on water and lead testing, inspiring youth to care for the environment, and bringing EJ to a global scale. Her leadership in environmental justice should be part of the foundational knowledge of every conservationist and environmentalist.

A trailblazer from the start, Johnson discovered her community was surrounded by toxic waste sites which were leading to alarming rates of cancer and asthma. After losing her husband to lung cancer, she founded PCR in 1979 to confront the pollution plaguing her community along with addressing housing and economic equity. By dedicating her life to the cause, her work connected the dots between environmental hazards and racial inequity, making her one of the first to recognize environmental justice as a civil rights issue.

Her work with the community led to a moratorium on new landfill sites in the area and the installation of water and sewer lines near Altgeld Gardens, which elderly residents had been paying for over 25 years despite lacking access.

Calumet River Industrial Area. Credit: Nishant Shah Chemical waste storage. Credit: Nishant Shah

Over time, her influence extended nationally, and she helped write the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice during the 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. These principles are a guidepost that the Environmental Justice, Public Health, Community Resilience, and Revitalization (EJHCR2) program at NWF is founded on today. Through her advocacy efforts like meeting with mayors, collecting data, and organizing rallies she helped influence Executive Order 12898 signed by President Clinton which required 17 federal agencies to address environmental justice in their work.

Present-day Altgeld Gardens' homes. Credit: Nishant Shah

Hazel M. Johnson's groundbreaking work of bringing attention to environmental hazards in Black communities laid the foundation for the environmental justice movement, and her legacy remains visible in the continued advocacy by her daughter, Cheryl Johnson, who now leads PCR.

She carries her mother's torch forward by emphasizing a profound message found at the heart of the toxic tour: power resides in the people. Cheryl Johnson offered us this insight as she guided us through the grim legacy of environmental degradation and the scars of environmental pollution left on the community today as the fight for justice continues.

'We are advancing together' community art piece. Credit: Nishant Shah

Through learning about Hazel M. Johnson and Altgeld Gardens, we can advocate for cleaner environments and equitable policies to ensure those affected by environmental harm are heard and prioritized. Today, PCR is in the works to turn the historic Building C into The Hazel M. Johnson Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Justice to serve as a living classroom, laboratory, and educational center driven by community power.

The organization is also focused on other projects ranging from Solar on the Southside to running the PCR Summer Youth Program.

Learn more about their current work here and support their ongoing projects by donating. There are also many other sites within the "Toxic Donut" and you can take a virtual toxic tour of Altgeld Gardens here to learn about them.

CAAEJ/PCRToxic Tour attendees' group photo with Cheryl Johnson. Credit: CAAEJ

Thank you to Cheryl Johnson, PCR, and CAAEJ for the powerful and inspiring toxic tour that further drives the EJCHR2 team and me to uplift communities like Altgeld while honoring the legacies of environmental justice legends like Hazel M. Johnson.

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