West Cook News

Dr. Susan Buchanan, an associate professor at the University of Illinois – Chicago School of Public Health and Oak Park Trustee, took to the airwaves to back a proposed migrant tent city plan in Brighton Park, championed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, has been halted amid a finding of toxic materials in the site meant to house 2,000 illegal immigrants.

An 800-page environmental study commissioned by City Hall disclosed elevated levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and manganese at certain locations on the site. Mercury levels, in particular, surpassed residential outdoor inhalation exposure standards.

In an interview with WBBM, Buchanan defended the plan, asserting that the site is reasonably safe for temporary housing.

“I think people are concerned because there are still some contaminants found deeper in the soil, but most of our soil, probably in the city of Chicago, is contaminated and has collected lead and other heavy metals and all kinds of industrial chemicals over the last 200 years of the city's industrial activity,” Buchanan told WBBM.  

Still, Buchanan said the topsoil contamination could be an issue if ingested.

“Which is really a problem of children or outside playing in the dirt and then putting their hands in their mouths,” Buchanan told WBBM.

The report, made public by the Johnson administration, disclosed that mercury levels surpassed residential outdoor inhalation exposure standards.

2th Ward Ald. Julia Ramirez, whose Ward includes Brighton Park, said she cannot "cannot condone a living situation that puts residents, new and old, at serious health risk.”

An Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) review found insufficient soil sampling and remediation, prompting Gov. JB Pritzker's office to deem the site unsafe.

“While the city might be comfortable placing asylum seekers on a site where toxins are present without a full understanding of whether it is safe, the state is not,” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said, according to Politico.

The University of Illinois–Chicago promoted the interview on X.

“SPH's Susan Buchanan tells @WBBMNewsradio that Chicago's proposed housing site for migrants is reasonably safe from environmental health risks for temporary housing,” the University of Illinois – Chicago said on X.

Buchanan, an expert in health issues related to toxic substances and environmental hazards, has contributed to various studies, including research on fish consumption and mercury exposure in Chicago's Asian communities, protective gear usage among Latino day laborers, and lead exposure in Chicago's children.

As the debate continues, the fate of the proposed migrant tent city remains uncertain, with state and city authorities at odds over its safety.