Protesters demand alderman withdraw support for Ozinga mining operation on Southeast Side

Brett Chase / Sun-Times

Dozens of opponents of a proposed mining operation on the Southeast Side demanded that Ald. Peter Chico (10th) withdraw his support for the project, loudly interrupting a tightly scripted town hall meeting he hosted Wednesday evening.

“We are not a sacrifice zone,” around 50 opponents said in unison at the town hall at George Washington High School.

Protest organizers said they were reacting to what they describe as Chico’s support for the Ozinga family’s plan for the Invert, an underground development that would extend several hundred feet below the surface of a former steel mill site.

The Ozingas, who operate the family’s namesake concrete and materials company, have tried to sell the community on the merits of the project over the last three years. The idea seemed to be dead after a city official ruled last year that construction would require mining to dig the space and remove underground stone, a practice that is banned in Chicago.

It appears the only way for the Ozinga plan to go forward is to change the city law.

Chico introduced a proposed ordinance earlier this year that would rescind Chicago’s ban on mining operations, potentially clearing a path for the Ozingas to pursue the Invert development near East 112th near the Calumet River. An Invert official didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Some Southeast Side residents have balked at the plan, saying that the mining would create dust and noise and potentially have an impact on the river.

“We are deeply concerned by your efforts to end the mining ban and by your efforts to allow mining using explosives in our community,” one of the opponents yelled, a statement that was repeated by the entire group. “Our alderman should be fighting for environmental protection on the Southeast Side – not introducing ordinances that will contribute to pollution.”

After additional calls and responses, Chico tried to take control, asking if he could talk.

“There are also people who support the project,” he told the crowd, and noted “the community will decide” the fate of the Invert.

After several minutes that included reactions by some other audience members who booed and extended obscene gestures, most of the opponents rose and walked out of the auditorium. The group made up at least a third of the attendees at Chico’s event.

As they made their way out, Chico pointed to the group and said that “could’ve been your alderman,” referring to Oscar Sanchez, co-executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force who challenged Chico in a primary for the 10th Ward council seat last year.

Chico was asked by the Sun-Times before the event how he was going to respond to mining questions. “The community will decide,” he said, without elaborating.

Asked after the town hall how many residents supported the Ozinga project, Chico responded, “the community will decide.”

Olga Bautista, who co-leads the Southeast environmental group, said opponents filled out and submitted about a dozen index cards with questions about the mining project, but Chico didn’t read any of them.

Chico did answer a number of other questions and even had city commissioners for buildings, the water department and transportation on hand to respond to residents’ concerns about various issues.

Many of the questions related to public safety and policing. Chico, a Chicago police officer, seemed at ease answering those inquiries or deferring to multiple law-enforcement officials on hand.

Chico introduced the rescinding of the mining ban in January along with Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th).

So far, Villegas is the only one of the two to talk publicly about the Invert, saying it will be a positive development for the Southeast Side, which has never recovered from the loss of the steel mills and the thousands of union jobs they provided.

The Invert proposes building below-ground space over years that can house a number of different types of businesses, including data services, storage, manufacturing and even indoor agriculture. The project would create more than 500 construction jobs, according to the developer’s estimates.

Southeast Siders opposing the Invert say mining would have an adverse environmental impact.

Activist Samuel Corona said before the Wednesday meeting that expectations in the coming weeks for a proposed ordinance aimed at protecting communities already overburdened with pollution is a step toward ensuring “that development does not compromise the quality of life” for residents.

By several measures, the Southeast Side has some of the dirtiest air in the city,” said Serap Erdal, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Just before former Mayor Lori Lightfoot left office a year ago, she signed a binding agreement with the federal government to reform the city’s zoning, planning and land-development policies to stop the longtime practice of placing polluting industries in the same low-income communities of color.