For Oscar Ortega, a 59-year-old resident of Chicago's South Deering neighborhood, sitting on the porch was once a simple pleasure until odors from a nearby industrial plant became so overwhelming that opening windows, hosting cookouts, or even spending time outside no longer felt possible.
Those odors — along with separate landfill fires nearby — are at the center of lawsuits filed in Illinois in early August.
Here's what to know
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Chicago officials filed a lawsuit on August 5 against A-F Acquisition LLC, which does business as Pullman Innovations, alleging permit violations, an unpermitted boiler, illegal air pollution, and excessive odors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Raoul announced a second lawsuit on August 7, accusing three companies connected to fires at the Harbor View waste facility — a closed landfill roughly four miles away.
The pair of cases has again focused attention on Chicago's Southeast Side, where residents have spent years describing industrial pollution as an environmental justice problem that affects both health and everyday life.
Gina Ramirez, whom the Chicago Tribune identified as the Natural Resources Defense Council's Midwest environmental health director, said residents are often left trying to document what they are experiencing while companies engage in "finger-pointing" over foul odors and pollution.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
"It shouldn't fall on the community to be constantly doing this," Ramirez said.
More background
Ortega said, "On really bad days, it smells like a handful of everything: vomit, fish, dead animal, something that went sour," and said it has kept him from enjoying his yard for years.
According to the attorney general's office, odors from the facility allegedly affected nearby schools and a church, contributing to canceled recesses and disrupting weddings and funerals.
Ortega also said many homeowners feel trapped because the persistent odor has hurt property values, while families without cars may have no choice but to wait outside for buses in the stench.
According to the Chicago Tribune, much of South Deering carries an environmental justice index score of 98.6 out of 100 on the Chicago Health Atlas, reflecting both heavy pollution burdens and high vulnerability to health impacts.
The area also has 60 percent Black and 30 percent Latino residents.
What's being done?
Ortega said neighbors spent years holding meetings at a local church with lawyers, activists, and government representatives, eventually helping build a class-action case against Pullman Innovations.
Judge Caroline Kate Moreland granted class-action status, and the law firm representing Ortega said that about 2,400 households were affected, although a court date has not yet been set.
City officials said they had been inspecting the plant. In a statement, Department of Environment Commissioner Angela Tovar said, "The City is now taking legal action due to the facility's continued failure to meet its responsibilities to the community."
Pullman Innovations' lawyers argued that there is no evidence a legally meaningful amount of odors came from the facility.
In the landfill-fire case, Stony Island Reclamation said tenant J.L.W. Trucking's mismanagement "led to the conditions that may have caused the fires."
Government lawsuits, inspections, and organized community action are placing formal pressure on companies that neighbors say have pushed the costs of doing business onto everyday people.
Ramirez said, "It's a step in the right direction, long overdue, of course, because so many people have suffered for so long, but I hope to see more of that."
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
