10th Ward residents, environmental groups ask judge to stop lakefront dump near Calumet Park

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Environmental groups and 10th Ward residents went to court Wednesday to ask a federal judge to prevent an Army Corps of Engineers plan to build a new dump on top of an old dump right next to Lake Michigan.

The proposed location is on the far southeast side and sits next to Calumet Park.

"We are surrounded by landfills, we have almost a thousand acres of toxic sites in the 10th Ward," said Samuel Corona, Alliance of the SouthEast.

For decades the Army Corps of Engineers has used a 45-acre lakefront site to store dredged toxins from the Calumet River. The underground dump is almost full, so out of 61 potential sites, the Corps settled on the same location to expand by building a new dump on top of the old one.

"The Army Corps, in order to fill its navigation responsibilities, needs to look at a broader set of alternatives, not do business as usual, the same old thing, simply dumping on the southeast side of Chicago," said Howard Lerner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Environmentalists and residents filed a lawsuit saying the Army Corps of Engineers violated federal and state laws, saying the lakefront land should be returned to the Chicago Park District for a park which was part of the original deal when the legislature authorized the facility in the early 1980s. The Corps was only supposed t use it for 10 years or until it became full.

"It is time for the Park District to say enough is enough, you have had your toxic dump, it is almost full," Lerner said.

The Park District has yet to weigh in on the case. Lawyers for the Army Corps of Engineers would not comment as they left federal court.