EXCLUSIVE: WTTW News has obtained the full inspector general report on the city's handling of the the former Crawford Power Plant demolition in 2021 that sent a plume of dust into the surrounding Little Village neighborhood.
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Ferguson declined to comment on the report’s content Monday when reached by WTTW News. After leaving office,A spokesperson for Lightfoot declined to comment on the full report obtained by WTTW News, noting that Monday was a city holiday to mark President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Lightfoot has previously said her administration has taken the necessary steps to prevent another implosion from traumatizing a community and imperiling residents’ health.
In addition, senior officials in the Chicago Department of Public Health predicted that the demolition would be a “disaster,” according to the report. Instead, the 2018 permit was amended to allow the demolition of the smokestack on April 9, 2020, two days before the implosion, according to the full report.
For example, the original plan called for 24 fire trucks to surround the smokestack and soak the ground with water before the implosion. However, there were just two trucks on site when the smokestack was demolished, according to the full report. Rodriguez, who faces Neftalie Gonzalez and Kristian Armendariz on Feb. 28 in his bid for reelection, said the implosion was clearly an example of “environmental racism” that never would have been allowed to happen in a part of the city home to white Chicagoans. Little Village is the heart of Chicago’s Latino community.
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