Despite decades of "steady improvement", Chicago is still home to some of the dirtiest waterways in the country. Now after years of obfuscation, the city's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is finally moving forward with cleanup plans.
Michael Hawthorne reports on the rapid change of course for the agency that handles Cook County's sewage and stormwater, after years spent challenging cleanup initiatives.
With a new executive director, David St. Pierre, in place, the District is moving forward with plans to disinfect human and industrial wastewater. It is the only major U.S. city that skips this treatment step, "largely because officials assumed nobody would want to come near rivers that carry wastewater away from Lake Michigan," according to Hawthorne.
Now, as mayor Rahm Emanuel emphasizes the importance of the city's "recreational frontiers", and others seek to use the city's waterways and redevelop properties adjacent to them, the District has agreed to upgrade its treatment plants, with a healthy nudge from the federal government.
"The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District said installing equipment to kill the germs in partially treated sewage will cost $139 million, about 7 times less than the $1 billion that top district officials once said it would require and half as much as they later argued it would take to disinfect the wastewater."
FULL STORY: No tax hike needed to clean up Chicago River, water agency says
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
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How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
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City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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