Little Village residents who lived around the site of a botched implosion of a coal power plant in 2020 may be eligible for part of a $12.25 million settlement related to the incident.
The company responsible for the accident, Hilco Redevelopment, and its contractors agreed to pay the money as part of a proposed class-action lawsuit in federal court in Chicago.
The debacle coated the Southwest Side community in dust on Easter weekend April 11, 2020. Residents who own property in the area or were present at the time of the implosion may be eligible. Go to littlevillagesmokestack.com for more information and to file a claim.
Residents who were affected must submit a claim by March 26. Those who want to object to the agreement or opt out of the settlement have until Feb. 26. Opting out is the only way a person can seek any other lawsuit against Hilco and its contractors.
Hilco demolished the former Crawford coal-fired power plant to redevelop the area with a more than 1 million square foot warehouse that is now being leased to retailer Target.
Both the plans for the warehouse and the way the power plant was demolished have been contentious issues in the Little Village community. The warehouse brings in hundreds of diesel-fuel trucks to Little Village every day, activists say, replacing one source of pollution with another.
The government oversight of the Crawford implosion was investigated by Chicago’s inspector general who accused city officials of “negligence and incompetence.” The report recommended three city officials be disciplined, including the possible firing of one health department employee.
Neither former Mayor Lori Lightfoot nor Mayor Brandon Johnson has authorized the release of the report, though it was obtained by the Sun-Times in February 2023.
