Chicago environmental activists urged the city Sunday to delay approval of a proposal that would allow crews to reuse soil from construction sites even if the dirt contains lead, arsenic, benzene and other chemicals.
Activists from the Pilsen neighborhood said their community has too often been a dumping ground for toxic materials and that the ordinance, which will come before the City Council's Environment Committee on Monday, raises too many questions to merit speedy approval.
"For many, many years the city has not taken soil contamination seriously, and it's our responsibility as communities of color that are severely impacted to call upon them and say it's too quick to make a decision," said Kim Wasserman of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
The city's soil contains plenty of contaminants after decades of heavy traffic and industrial activity. Dirt removed from construction projects must be transported to landfills and replaced with earth that typically is taken from Downstate farmland.
Showing posts with label building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label building. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11
Thursday, March 3
Japan's new TV tower becomes world's tallest
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The "Tokyo Sky Tree" tower. Japan can boast the world's tallest free-standing television tower as of Tuesday, when the under-construction Tokyo Sky Tree rose to a height of 601 metres (1,971 feet). |
TOKYO (AFP) - – Japan can boast the world's tallest free-standing television tower as of Tuesday, when the under-construction Tokyo Sky Tree rose to a height of 601 metres (1,971 feet).
The steel structure eclipsed China's 600-metre Canton Tower, which opened in Guangzhou in September -- although both are shorter than the world's tallest building, Dubai's 828-metre Burj Khalifa skyscraper.
The Tokyo Sky Tree rose to 601 metres at 1:29 pm (0429 GMT), when workers lifted part of its antenna section into place, said Tobu Railway, the main investor in the 65-billion-yen (790-million-dollar) project.
Already a popular landmark in eastern Tokyo, the broadcast tower is scheduled to reach its top height of 634 metres this month and be completed by the end of the year.
"We are delighted to see the tower become the world number one," said Tobu Railway spokesman Shota Mitsui. "But we still have more work to do, and we will continue enforcing safety first in completing the project."
To keep the structure safe during Japan's frequent earthquakes, the tower boasts a cutting-edge anti-seismic design, including pilings that fan out underground like the branches of a tree.
The tower consists of two parts, an outer steel frame and an inner shaft of reinforced concrete, which can move separately to cancel out their seismic energies -- a design idea borrowed from ancient Japanese pagodas.
A year ago, the tower surpassed the current television and radio transmission tower -- the 333-metre red-and-white Tokyo Tower, a symbol of Japan's post-war "economic miracle" -- as the country's tallest structure.
In early 2012, after Japanese television networks switch entirely to digital transmissions, Tokyo Sky Tree will take over television broadcasts to beam signals across the city's ever-rising skyline.
With two observation decks, the tower aims to attract an average 2.7 million visitors every year, Mitsui said.
He added that some 25 million people a year are expected to use commercial facilities inside the tower compound, including 300 shops and restaurants as well as an aquarium, a planetarium and a dome theatre.
Monday, March 16
Critics target reuse of building site soil
Critics target reuse of building site soil
Chicago environmental activists urge delay of proposed law change
Chicago environmental activists urge delay of proposed law change
The ordinance would allow Chicago's dirt to be reused at other construction sites as long as tests showed that its level of contaminants was beneath thresholds established by the city and state. Soil deemed unsafe would continue to be taken to landfills.
Suzanne Malec-McKenna, the city's environment commissioner, said trucking away construction soil and importing new dirt add needless expense to public works projects.
"You're going to have certain levels of chemicals in the soil, but not levels that are unsafe for human health and the environment. ... It's the reality of living in a community that has cars and trucks and the history of a city," she said.
Malec-McKenna said the city and state have been working on the plan for two years, and that the Environment Committee held a hearing last month on the proposal.
The Pilsen activists said they wanted more time to study the proposal's impact. If the ordinance clears the committee, the City Council could vote on it Wednesday.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-soil-ordinance-16mar16,0,1043028.story?track=rss
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