May 8,
2003
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT PERSON:
Kim Scipes, Executive Director
Moral Victory for CDF Opponents in East Chicago
The Calumet Project claimed a “moral victory” for opponents
of the so-called Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) in East Chicago today.
Although final results in the mayoral race will
require a Court decision regarding the absentee ballots used to propel Mayor
Robert Pastrick to victory, Calumet Project Executive Director Kim Scipes
claimed victory. Scipes stated,
“Despite the final decision, it is clear that the people of East Chicago have
rejected the siting and establishment of the toxic waste dump within 800 yards
of Central High School and West Side Junior High.”
Scipes noted that both of Pastrick’s challengers,
George Pabay and Lonnie Randolph, have been long-time opponents to the siting
of the CDF on the former Energy Cooperative, Incorporated (ECI) site. In fact, “Both Pabay and Randolph attended our
rally on April 26th and spoke out against the CDF. In fact, they publicly signed a pledge that
they would work for a cleaner environment with environmental justice for
all if elected.” Combined, based on figures in The Times,
Pabay and Randolph garnered 6,057 votes to Pastrick’s 4,041. Previous press reports have stated that the
CDF siting issue had become one of the most important issues in this campaign.
“We saw it in our April 26th march and
rally,” claimed Scipes. “We had
approximately 300 people in the streets, with passion and conviction that this
monstrosity had to be stopped.” In
fact, Scipes reported that 20 political candidates from across the entire city
publicly signed the pledge at the rally to work for a cleaner environment and
environmental justice for all if elected.
“It’s clear that the ECI site is dead as far as the
community is concerned. We hope the
political establishment in the City will wake up and realize the broad public
opposition to this potential disaster.
We want the ECI site cleaned up—now.
We want the Army Corps of
Engineers to give up their current experiment on the health and well-being of
the people of East Chicago. If the
dredging is going to be done, we want it done well—meaning by hydraulic dredge,
with immediate remediation of contaminated sediment and not just placing it in
a hole, with complete water treatment processes, and with air emission
controls: in other words, done in a
manner that promotes and enhances the well-being of people and the environment,
and not just ‘gets it out of the way’.”
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