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Law360 (April 16, 2020, 7:50 PM EDT) -- On a holiday weekend during a global pandemic, a Chicago developer negligently demolished a smokestack that blanketed a neighborhood in a cloud of potentially toxic dust, a proposed class action in Illinois federal court alleges.
The suit filed Wednesday accuses Hilco Redevelopment LLC and its contractors, including Morgan/Harbour LLC, of "cutting corners" by not implementing measures to contain a huge debris offshoot following the toppling of a shuttered coal plant's smokestack on April 11. The plaintiffs are residents of the largely minority Little Village neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, one of whom used to work at the coal plant.
"Dangerous demolitions like this do not happen in predominantly white neighborhoods on the north side of Chicago," Loevy & Loevy, the law firm representing the residents, said in a statement Wednesday.
Residents of a neighborhood on Chicago's southwest side say a toxic plume April 11 diminished their property values and put their health at even greater risk amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Court documents)
Hilco purchased the Crawford Coal Plant in 2017, five years after community activist group Little Village Environmental Justice Organization forced the plant to shutter due to the "extreme health consequences" it imposed on those living nearby. The developer plans to build a warehouse at the site, the suit says.
According to the complaint, the same community activists' repeated concerns about containing the toxic substances in the plant during the redevelopment were consistently met with assurances from Hilco and others that every precaution would be taken to keep demolition debris out of Little Village's air.
The residents say the developer's promises were broken by the events of April 11.
"Immediately after the smokestack fell, a toxic plume enveloped the Little Village community," likely containing mercury, lead, asbestos and uranium, the complaint says.
"The closure of the Crawford coal plant was supposed to represent the end of a major and deadly source of pollution in the neighborhood," the residents say. "Instead, the defendants' actions have caused the very chemicals from the Crawford Coal Plant that LVEJO and the Little Village community worried about for years to blanket residents, homes, businesses, and open spaces."
The suit describes Little Village as a predominantly minority neighborhood that has been one of the hardest hit in the Chicago area by the novel coronavirus. As the neighborhood has a long history of facing environmental injustice, many residents are especially vulnerable to the current pandemic that can cause respiratory distress, the suit says, and polluting their air with potentially toxic dust couldn't have come at a worse time.
"What happened last weekend in Little Village would be unconscionable in normal times," Steve Art of Loevy & Loevy said in a statement Wednesday. "Burying a neighborhood in a toxic dust cloud during a pandemic caused by a respiratory virus — on Easter weekend when many residents were outdoors — leaves us at a loss for words."
The seven-count complaint by named plaintiffs Antonio Solis, Jose Solis and Juan Rangel accuses the developer and its contractors of strict liability for ultrahazardous activity, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, nuisances, trespass, assault and battery and racial discrimination in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The suit seeks damages in addition to a court order forcing the defendants to clean up the area and provide alternative housing during the process. The plaintiffs also want the companies to provide special masks to all residents and air filters for their homes. The suit demands an independent evaluation as to the extent of the damage done to both property and real estate values in the area.
The suit names as defendants not only Hilco and Morgan/Harbour but five other construction companies hired for the job.
A spokesperson for Hilco Redevelopment Partners declined to comment on the suit Thursday but told Law360, "We are cooperating with the city of Chicago and all appropriate agencies as they conduct a review of the incident."
Representatives for Morgan/Harbour didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jon Loevy, Michael Kanovitz, Steve Art, Scott Rauscher, Cindy Tsai, Julie Goodwin, Danielle Hamilton, Renee Spence and John Hazinski of Loevy & Loevy.
Legal representation for the developer and contractors was not immediately available Thursday.
The suit is Solis et al. v. Hilco Redevelopment LLC et al., case number 1:20-cv-02348, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
--Editing by Brian Baresch.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
