The Air Quality Index in Will County is now worse than that of Chicago--- being categorized as very unhealthy. Researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists found a direct link between Canadian Big Oil Companies and increased wildfire activity. The Will County Board is voting to approve a Canadian heavy crude oil pipeline and oil terminal in Unincorporated Will County, near Romeoville, Illinois in Lockport Township. Working Families Will County encourages all residents to please ask their Will County Board Member to vote "NO" on this proposal as it is detrimental to the air quality, poses a threat to clean water sources, and places our future generations at risk of further catastrophic environmental crises as we are seeing today. Sources:
Rise in extreme wildfi res linked directly to emissions from oil companies in new study | CBC News https://youtu.be/I_4EFwi62R8?t=5919
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Topic: WFJ Presents: Joliet Water Conservation and Source Project
Start Time: Feb 18, 2022 06:39 PM Meeting Recording: Watch Video Presentation Access Passcode: wvF3H?xL After Another Botched Process in the Northpoint Annexation, Joliet Mayor O’Dekirk Claims To Be Doing Everything Right; This Couldn’t Be Further From the Truth And Is Why We Need Change.
While the newest controversies have to do with failure to notify local taxing bodies and questionable notaries, the saga of Northpoint is a troubled history of ignoring residents, disregarding neighbors, and a city council more interested in accommodating a wealthy developer than listening to its citizens. Reform is possible, but residents will have to increase political participation in order for that to happen. Last fall it was clear Mayor O’Dekrik would be making moves to land the controversial development after he rebuffed Elwood Mayor Doug Jenco’s public request to renegotiate an expiring January 1st, 2020 borderline agreement with the village. This unneighborly act was a prelude to months of controversy and an eventual Open Meetings Act lawsuit filed by the village against the city. In the process, Mayor O’Dekirk and his city council allies failed to act on behalf of local residents, worsened relationships with neighbors & other public officials and have opened up the possibility of Joliet being involved in years of litigation with its neighbors and residents. While economic development is the stated reason for a damn the consequences approach by the Mayor and his allies, a trail of political donations related to supporters of the project litter the coffers of city council members. This includes a suspicious donation of what could be a pass through money between Northpoint and Councilman Larry Hug in his failed Illinois Senate race. Speculation on Councilman Hug’s donation aside, what’s clear is that as soon as it became possible for the Mayor and the council to start to move for an annexation, there has been a hell or high water approach, including forcing a vote in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. No waiting on traffic studies, water studies, or meetings with various stakeholders, including veterans groups, southside residents, and Native American groups. The aforementioned April vote was subject to another Open Meetings Act complaint that is still working its way through the courts. During a hearing on the matter, Judge John Anderson while not granting a temporary restraining order to residents stated that the Mayor and the city council action’s were “shady and does a disservice to the public.” This sentiment best summarizes the overall approach by the Mayor and his allies, the question remains what can be done to move Joliet past the current state of affairs? For the politicians supporting Northpoint, the formula is simple: depending on large donations from business interests and doing just enough to win municipal elections that most residents regularly disregard with low voter turnout. It’s our belief at Working Families Joliet that the only way out of the mess created by the city council is for more everyday people to get involved in the political process and to increase voter participation. Fundamentally, we see the Just Say No To Northpoint movement as a community coming together to fight back against the excesses and broken promises made by the warehousing and logistics industries (infrastructure, pollution, quality of jobs, community quality, etc). We can win a city that works for us all but it will take lots of small donations, people volunteering their time and the promotion of political leadership rooted in the community who are accountable to everyday people. Our tax dollars pay for the public subsides warehouses receive for building construction, waived traffic impact fees, public assistance for warehouse workers and uncompensated public costs for warehouse trucking. Uncompensated public costs are costs not covered by taxes or fees based on ton-miles of truck travel study from the Congressional Budget Office. IDOT estimated that current truck traffic to warehouses located along Route 53 is 2500 trucks per day. Residents of Will County are currently paying uncompensated public costs per year of:
$24 million in injuries, fatalities, property damage due to traffic accidents; $15 million from wear and tear on roads and bridges; $11 million from harmful effects from exhaust emissions; $10 million in delays caused by traffic congestion; $3 million in climate impacts from CO2; and $1 million in loss of value to adjacent property. The above costs were taken from a study by the Economic Roundtable of Amazon warehouses in the Los Angles area done in 2019. The costs in the Economic Roundtable report were adjusted on a mileage ratio of truck miles in the report to truck miles reported by IDOT for Route 53. As such the numbers are estimates which would not reflect the differences in climate, etc. We need an economic impact study in Will County to truly understand how much these warehouses are costing the individual taxpayer. We don’t need statistics to know the damage warehousing has caused in our communities. Look at I 80 or Route 53. You can see the road and bridge damage, traffic accidents and congestion. Those great $20 per hour jobs failed to materialize, but you can see staffing agencies all round Joliet. You can see all the shuttered businesses as money has not trickled down to the local economy. All of Will County south of I 80 will be a diesel desert. |
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June 2023
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