(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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The only violence people wanted to hear about was the harm being done to their health due to decades of pollution from surrounding industries.

Mayoral candidates Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas made their case to voters at a packed forum held in Pilsen, and the words “crime” and “police” didn't come up once.

(Danne / Pexels)

Scientists calculated the biomass of various groups of mammals, and humans’ impact weighs heavily on the planet.

(WTTW News)

Federal regulators just approved a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, with Chicago as part of the route linking Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

(WTTW News)

Coal ash, the byproduct created when plants burn coal for power, contains potentially dangerous materials like arsenic, mercury and cadmium that can endanger nearby water supplies. Since coal-fired power plants use a lot of water to keep their equipment cool, they’re often near bodies of water like Lake Michigan.

An aerial view of the Chicago Area Confined Disposal Facility, a 45-acre site on Chicago’s Southeast Side that has been in operation since 1984. Inset: The CDF is outlined in red. (Credit: Army Corps of Engineers)

Opponents of a toxic sludge landfill on Lake Michigan have filed a lawsuit to stop a plan by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to expand the dump by 25 vertical feet.

(WTTW News)

Cook County is the worst neighbor in the country when it comes to smog, according to new data from the EPA. Health-damaging smog can travel hundreds of miles to neighboring counties and states.

Sea anemone. (Bernard Spragg NZ / Flickr Creative Commons)

Fossils unearthed from Illinois’ famed Mazon Creek site have been sitting in collections misidentified for close to 50 years.

An overturned rail car is pictured at the crash site in East Palestine, Ohio. (Environmental Protection Agency)
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Federal data show 272 hazardous materials releases involving trains in Illinois in the last decade. Predicting when and where environmental problems will manifest is difficult, but the risk is real.

(WTTW News)
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Crime has dominated much of the local and national media coverage around Chicago’s mayoral election. But environmental justice activists contend that environmental issues also have a significant impact on quality of life for residents.

Volunteers at LaBagh Woods help remove invasive buckthorn. Chicagoans might be surprised to learn which other popular ornamental plants are invasive. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Think you would know an invasive species if you saw one?

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks during a news conference in East Palestine, Ohio, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Regan announced the agency will hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the costs of the cleanup of the Feb. 3 freight train derailment. (AP Photo / Matt Freed)
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The Environmental Protection Agency told Norfolk Southern to take all available measures to clean up contaminated air and water, and also said the company would be required to reimburse the federal government. 

(Living Carbon)

A San Francisco-based tech startup has announced the launch of the latest tool in the fight to stave off the worst of climate change: genetically modified trees.

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)
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A recent confidential watchdog report found that Chicago officials could and should have prevented a botched smokestack implosion in Little Village, rekindling conversations about the role of industry in neighborhoods and where accountability lies when violations occur.

A still image from a video taken of the demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant smokestack, April 11, 2020. (Alejandro Reyes / YouTube)
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The 94-page report obtained by the city's former inspector general details lapses by the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Buildings. Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined repeated calls to make it public. 

Foster Avenue, in the North Park neighborhood. Experts say a single mug of salt is enough for 10 squares of sidewalk. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Road salt runoff is making its way into Great Lakes waterways. Wisconsin has pending legislation that could encourage contractors to use less.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk and Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo / Gene J. Puskar)

Crews released toxic chemicals into the air from five derailed tanker cars that were in danger of exploding  and began burning it after warning residents near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line to leave immediately or face the possibility of death.