A new report from the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago looked at spots including industrial areas and a nuclear waste site that are at risk of releasing hazardous materials if storms and flooding hit. Howard Learner, executive director of the center, explains what’s at stake.

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TRANSCRIPT:

MELBA LARA, HOST: You’re listening to WBEZ, and it’s time for our weekly climate conversation. Climate change poses a threat to toxic sites that are close to Lake Michigan shoreline. That’s according to a new report from the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago. The spots they looked at include industrial areas and a nuclear waste site that are at risk of releasing hazardous materials if storms and flooding hit. Here to talk more about what’s at stake is Howard Lerner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. And Howard Welcome.

HOWARD LEARNER: Good to join you Melba, this afternoon.

LARA: And before we get into some of the specific sites that are at risk, can you explain how climate change is affecting Lake Michigan and its shoreline?

LEARNER: The short of it is; one impact of climate change is that in certain years, we’re going to have especially higher water levels. And what that does is when whipped up by more intense storms and high winds and high waves. That puts a lot of pressure of water on the shoreline’s built environment.

LARA: And in fact, your report identifies 12 locations near the lake that are at risk six are in Illinois, another two are in Northwest Indiana. Talk to us about some examples of the places close to us that have got toxic sites that could be affected.

LEARNER: Let’s talk about a couple examples in the Chicago area. In Waukegan, right on the Lakeshore is a coal plant that shutting down that has coal ash ponds around it with toxic materials, 4 Superfund sites and an industrial facility. Likewise, on the South Side of Chicago, there are industrial facilities including the confined disposal facility, the Army Corps of Engineers that holds toxic dredge dumping materials, that’s right on the shoreline.

LARA: There are also communities that are at risk from flooding right here in Chicago, talk to us about what areas are vulnerable.

LEARNER: Well look at what happened in Chicago just a couple of years ago. In South Shore between about 72nd and 75th street, to get to about Rainbow Beach, high winds, high waves. When the water wasn’t even at its highest point in January and February, we re flooding out apartment buildings that were built right on the lake. Same thing in Rogers park on the far north side. Apartments buildings built right on the lake. Water levels high heavy waves heavy winds, and those apartment buildings in those areas were getting battered.

LARA: Howard, what actions would you like to see taken to prepare for these risks? Are there political things that can be done or the things business can do or individuals?

LEARNER: There are three things that should absolutely be done. First of all, any facility owner that has toxic and hazardous materials need to carefully reassess what’s the structural integrity of their facility, in light of the forecasts of higher water levels. Secondly, going forward, our policymakers need to look at land use planning and zoning and development decisions based not on what the water data was 50 years ago, or what somebody thought a floodplain was 20 years ago, but based on today’s data. Finally, we need to use green infrastructure. You can’t simply put walls all the way around the lake and protect everything with a wall. All that does is push the water over to some other place. There are a lot of places along the Lakeshore, where there are wetlands that can be restored opportunities to use what people call soft infrastructure, or nature based solutions that begin to take a little bit of the pressure off.

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