Michael Hawthorne – Page 29

Workers clean up contaminated soil from a front yard in the 1300 block of West 19th Street in Chicago.
Ramon Mendoza, a site coordinator for the EPA, said workers are cleaning up lead-contaminated soil at four Pilsen homes this week.

Cleanup of lead-polluted yards begins in Pilsen

May 22, 2019 at 10:53 p.m.

Crews have finally begun to dig up yards contaminated by years of toxic lead emissions from a Pilsen factory, more than a decade after activists tested soil and discovered high...

Owners of the 90 Miles Cuban Cafe restaurants Alberto Gonzalez and his father, also named Alberto Gonzalez, talk at one of their Chicago locations on Dec. 17, 2014.

Cuban-Americans in Chicago subdued after Fidel Castro’s death

May 22, 2019 at 10:46 p.m.

As news of Fidel Castro's death spread quickly through the Chicago area's Cuban-American community, questions lingered about whether the Caribbean nation he ruled for nearly five decades will further loosen...

Chicago parks shut off many drinking fountains after tests find lead

May 22, 2019 at 10:37 p.m.

Long before the first winter frost, hundreds of drinking fountains in Chicago parks have been shut off after testing revealed high levels of brain-damaging lead in the water. Chicago Park...

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.

Testing finds lead in water at Catholic schools in Chicago Archdiocese

May 22, 2019 at 10:36 p.m.

Like other school systems across the nation, the Archdiocese of Chicago is being forced to grapple with the toxic legacy of plumbing made of brain-damaging lead. Test results released this...

Akeeshea Daniels was one of the last remaining residents at the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago. She and her family have sinced moved out.

East Chicago residents fleeing lead contamination find few housing options

May 22, 2019 at 10:33 p.m.

For Nayesa Walker, the clock started ticking just over a month ago. On Sept. 1, she was given 60 days to find a new home after East Chicago Mayor Anthony...

Laborers with the city's department of water management work to replace aging water main lines on Sept. 15, 2016 in the 1500 block of West Roscoe Street in Chicago.

As other cities dig up pipes made of toxic lead, Chicago resists

June 14, 2024 at 6:43 p.m.

As cities across the nation overhaul their aging, increasingly fragile drinking water systems, some municipal leaders are digging deeper to erase a toxic legacy that endangers millions of Americans: lead...

A crew replaces a water main along Ridge Avenue on July 14, 2016.

Chicago to test for lead in water on higher-risk streets

June 14, 2024 at 6:45 p.m.

With rising public concern about the threat posed by lead pipes connecting thousands of Chicago homes to the public water supply, city officials announced Monday they will begin testing tap...

In this Sept. 12, 2013 file photo, the Fox River flows through downtown Waukesha, Wis. A push for expanded access to water from the Great Lakes is at a key point for the city of Waukesha.

Wisconsin city allowed unprecedented access to Lake Michigan for drinking water

August 21, 2019 at 6:51 p.m.

Governors from the eight Great Lakes states agreed Tuesday to allow a Wisconsin city to start pumping millions of gallons a day from Lake Michigan, marking the largest diversion of...

The EPA approved a flame retardant, known as Firemaster 550, more than a decade ago even though the manufacturer's own health studies found that exposing rats to high doses can lower birth weight, alter female genitalia and cause skeletal malformations.

EPA gets new powers to regulate toxic chemicals, but progress takes time

June 14, 2024 at 6:46 p.m.

With new evidence surfacing almost weekly about how Americans are absorbing hormone-disrupting chemicals — sometimes merely from sitting on a sofa or drinking from a plastic cup — the U.S....

Workers prepare to replace older water mains in the 5100 block of West Roscoe Street on Feb. 2, 2016.

Water testing finds high lead levels in communities across Illinois

June 14, 2024 at 6:46 p.m.

Alarmed by chronic problems with lead-contaminated water in downstate Galesburg, federal officials are urging local officials to provide bottled water or filters to residents where testing at household taps found...

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