Vol. 78/No. 19      May 19, 2014

Towering open piles of petcoke dust, a waste product from the refining of heavy oil, are being stored along the Calumet River in southeastern Chicago by KCBX Terminals Co. and Beemsterboer Slag Corp.

The BP oil refinery in nearby Whiting, Indiana, which produces the petcoke, is barred from storing uncovered dust there, but no such restriction exists in Chicago.

BP recently completed an overhaul that will more than triple its petcoke output to 2.2 million tons a year.

“We don’t need any more studies, we know this stuff is hazardous to our health,” Rolanda Watson-Clark, speaking for National Nurses United, told the send-off rally. “We see increased incidences of COPD [a chronic lung disease], sinus infections, asthma and rare forms of cancer right here where petcoke is stored in the open and people breathe the dust.”

The mile and half long march ended in front of KCBX Terminal.

Four days later, protesting Southeast Side residents packed a Chicago City Council meeting where legislators voted to reject their demands to close down the storage sites. Instead, they gave the companies two years to cover them.
 
 
Related articles:
Oil, rail bosses’ profit drive causes yet another fiery train explosion
Illinois socialist candidate: Close down ‘petcoke’ site
Statement by Eleanor García, Socialist Workers candidate for California governor
Fight for workers control on the job!
 
 
 
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