Residents Concerned Over Environmental Impact of New Amazon Fulfillment Center

Image description: In the foreground is a grass and a sidewalk that leads past a black metal fence. A gray driveway area leads into a large blue, metal awning to the right and the left a large gray building. On the right corner of the building the w…

Exterior of the Amazon fulfillment center on November 3rd, 2020 located on S. Laramie Ave in Cicero. (Photo by Abel Rodriguez).

By Abel Rodriguez

A new Amazon fulfillment center has opened in Cicero. The center is located at 1400 S Laramie Ave, and sits on two 575,000 square foot warehouses operated by Bridgeport 290.

While supporters of the new facilities claim that the fulfillment centers will bring hundreds of new jobs to Cicero, advocates and community residents worry the environmental impact to the town’s air quality is not worth the promise of jobs.

Environmental concerns

Fleets of delivery vehicles have started servicing the Amazon warehouse which is located in an area host to several industrial companies according to Mia Berrios, an environmental science student at Loyola University and Cicero resident.

Community residents like Berrios worry that the new delivery vehicles servicing Amazon could potentially worsen air quality levels for Cicero residents. Worsening air quality can be caused by an increase in particulate matter, also called particle pollution (PM).

Particulate matter according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is the mixture of small solid and liquid particles in the air. PM can cause health risks when inhaled and recent studies have shown that people who live in areas with more particle pollution in the air can suffer from preexisting conditions and are more likely to have higher mortality rates of COVID-19.

Particles range in size, the smallest and most dangerous to human health measure 2.5 micrometers. According to Susan Mudd, PM 2.5 is so small that it would take between 20 to 40 particulates to be the width of one human hair. Mudd is an attorney and Senior Policy Advocate for the Environmental Law & Policy Center (EPLC), an organization that develops and advocates for environmental legislation in the midwest.

“These are tiny, tiny things that can bypass the protection in our noses that are meant to stop things from getting into our lungs. They’re small enough that they can cross into our bloodstream carrying with them various toxins,” said Mudd.

Prolonged exposure to high levels of smog and particulate matter can contribute to asthma attacks, heart attacks and other respiratory problems, according to Mudd.

Berrios worries that the pollution from the Amazon vehicles will likely affect people already suffering from respiratory issues and will weaken residents’ immune systems making them more susceptible to COVID-19.

“Sending out all these trucks...all over the town, all over the West side of Chicago, it's going to add up, you’re releasing more gas, you’re burning more fuel. They [Amazon] are creating more waste,” said Berrios.

“Industrialized, urban areas are notorious for having poor air quality,” said Emmanuel Piña, Cicero resident and environmental science student at Knox College. “Considering that our current administration has done little to improve our air within the past few years it is especially concerning. A new warehouse, and the heavy traffic that follows, will likely lead to increased air pollution and worsened air quality.”

High levels of particulate matter are why the Chicagoland area has many smog filled days during the summer, all of which pose a danger to people already experiencing respiratory illnesses.

“Every summer there are all sorts of days with air quality alerts or ozone days and people are advised not to go outside or not to go running or not to do any physical exercise outside. All those things are because of the combined effects of the air pollution,” said Mudd.

Ozone is a gas molecule that is a pulmonary irritant that can cause coughing and chest tightness when exposed for long periods of time.

According to an air quality report published by the Illinois EPA, in 2018 Cicero had five days in which ozone levels were higher than 0.070 parts per million for a duration of eight hours or more. In 2017, there were two days with high ozone levels, and six day in 2016.

The 2019 and 2020 Illinois air quality reports have not been made available.

According to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a database that tracks toxic chemical pollution by industrial facilities, there are nine facilities in Cicero emitting potential toxins into the air, one of which is located across the street from the Amazon warehouse. The facility, Chicago Extruded Metals Co, releases compounds that can cause issues such as cancer and respiratory, reproductive, gastrointestinal and developmental issues.

Other polluting facilities in Cicero include the 26th Street rail yard.

A 2010 Chicago Reporter investigation found that Cicero residents within half a mile of the railyard have a higher chance of developing cancer due to the diesel exhaust and other particulate matter that can enter the lungs and bloodstream.

Amazon has stated that their goal is to reach zero carbon emissions by 2040 and plan to have 10,000 electric vehicles by 2022. An Amazon liaison for the Cicero warehouse did not respond to email requests to address the environmental concerns or to provide information about the company’s zero carbon emissions goal.

In Chicago, Latinx and Black communities often face similar environmental challenges. In Little Village a new development by a real estate group is polluting the air. In McKinley Park, an asphalt company is emitting carbon dioxide in the form of particulate matter to the community. In Englewood, Black residents have trouble getting access to clean water.

Concerned with the city’s air quality, Cicero and Berwyn residents along with advocates from ELPC have begun efforts to track pollutants in Cicero.

$5.2 Million in incentives

Sources close to Amazon told Crain's Business that Cicero was selected for it’s “quick access to a Chicago customer base and a strong local labor pool.” A Town of Cicero press release said the facilities would “create hundreds of new job opportunities for Cicero residents.”

Documents obtained by WBEZ and the Better Government Association show that only 120 full-time positions were created at the Cicero facility.

The same Town of Cicero press release claims that the new shipping facility will ease the tax burden for Cicero residents, but documents obtained by WBEZ and the Better Government Association indicate that in Cicero, Amazon received $5.2 million in tax-payer funded incentives.

The Cicero warehouse has received tax increment financing (TIF) over 12 years and has also applied for tax abatement with Cook County. The documents are part of a larger investigation that demonstrates how Amazon’s Chicago-area expansion has been fueled by $741 million from taxpayer money.

Cicero spokesperson, Ray Hanania, did not respond to confirm the validity of the reports.

Cook County Commissioner, Alma Anaya, who represents areas of Chicago’s West and South Sides says the process of applying for and approving tax incentives is difficult for the public, and to some commissioners, to understand.

“The way the county uses them [tax incentives] is to promote investment in communities that have seen disinvestment,” said Commissioner Anaya. “So it's intended to get more investment to the community and help investors feel comfortable.”

“The process becomes very complex,’” said Commissioner Anaya. She says there are various class types of incentives. Sometimes tax incentives have to be voted on and approved by the board of commissioners and sometimes they are approved directly by the Cook County Assessor's office.

To help residents better understand the approval process for tax incentives, Commissioner Anaya started a working group intended to study the application approval process for tax incentives offered by Cook County.

“I don’t necessarily agree with what has been going on [with Amazon] that’s why we want this working group,” Commissioner Anaya explained. “I found out that Amazon doesn‘t really get tax incentives in locations throughout the country, and in Cook County they have received a lot of tax incentives.”

“We need to understand the benefit that the companies and the tenants of those new projects are bringing to the community…we want to move away from this model where the bigger corporations get huge tax incentives, therefore having an unfair and unbalanced burden on small commercial mom and pop shops and residents of Cook County,” said Commissioner Anaya.

Cicero’s Commissioner, Frank Aguilar J.R., did not return requests for comment.

Residents react

After learning about the new Amazon warehouse in Cicero, Piña felt betrayed and unheard.

“I don’t believe a warehouse is what residents are asking for,” Piña said. “It tells me the Town of Cicero puts profits over the wellness of the community that they’re supposed to be serving.”

Berrios questions whether the tax incentives given to Amazon were the right move. She says Amazon’s connection with Immigration and Customs Enforcement is troublesome especially with Cicero’s large population of undocumented people.

“How come the Town can't allocate more money for stuff we actually need like making more parks, making more community spaces or fixing the roads?” asked Berrios. “Put money back into the community instead of giving it to another corporation.”

Abel Rodriguez is a reporter for Cicero Independiente.