We don’t get the power; we just get the pollution.”
This was the testimony heard at the International Women and Climate Justice Tribunal held at Sacred Heart Church (Joliet, IL). Residents from Chicago’s Pilsen area and Will County heard powerful testimonies from women dealing with the fallout of air pollution generated by Midwest Generation’s coal plants in Joliet and Romeoville, and toxic coal ash dumped by Midwest Generation in the unlined Lincoln Stone Quarry. In 2010, the Clean Air Taskforce estimated 120 deaths, 2000 asthma attacks, and 180 heart attacks are attributed annually to pollution from the Will County and Joliet coal plants.
“What we’ve heard today is that these coal plants are polluting the land, the air and our water–if Midwest Generation won’t comply with the law, they need to be shut down,” concluded Brian Perbix, Grassroots Organizer for Prairie Rivers Network.
Read the full article including testimonies from three of the women on the Alternet website, or access a pdf of this story.
