As Target and Hilco Redevelopment Partners held a private ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to mark the opening of a controversial distribution center in Little Village, about 30 community members gathered to protest the additional diesel truck traffic the center will bring.
Protesters stood outside the Southwest Side warehouse on South Pulaski Road with signs that read “Hell No to Hilco!”, “Don’t Target Us” and “La contaminación y la explotación no son aceptables”: “Pollution and exploitation are not acceptable.”
The warehouse, called Exchange 55, is a symbol of environmental racism in a city where people of color bear the brunt of industry, protesters said.
“We deserve more than dirty air in our neighborhood,” said Kim Wasserman, the executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, which organized the protest. “What do we got? Nothing but diesel trucks lining this street. What’s it going to be like when this warehouse opens?”
Wasserman later said that according to the group’s research on warehouses of similar size, the opening of Exchange 55 could bring an additional 600 to 700 additional trucks per day.
The neighborhood is already inundated with diesel truck traffic, community members and organizers said Tuesday. They are concerned not just about diesel particle pollutants — the fine particles can cause or exacerbate an array of health problems, such as asthma — but also about excessive traffic, noise pollution and streets that are dangerous for pedestrians and bikers.
The Target warehouse is set to be one of about 40 transportation, distribution and logistics sites in Little Village, Wasserman said.
Exchange 55 is located at the site of the former Crawford coal-fired power plant that closed in 2012 after a push by activists.
In April 2020, shortly after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Hilco’s demolition of a smokestack on the former coal plant property blanketed Little Village in a thick dust. In November, Hilco and its partners agreed to pay a settlement of $370,000 in a lawsuit filed by the state of Illinois.
At the time, Edith Tovar, a community organizer with the environmental justice group, told the Tribune that no amount of money could make up for the trauma and damage the demolition caused to the community.
“Exchanging coal for diesel doesn’t save our lungs,” protesters chanted on Tuesday.
Protesters called for Target to break its lease with Hilco and for Hilco to give the warehouse site to the public. Tovar said the environmental group would like to see the site be used for indoor farming or as kitchen space for neighborhood food vendors.
“We are a home of environmental racism in this city,” said Wasserman. “We will no longer stand by and be sacrificed by the city or by our elected officials.” Little Village has the second-worst air quality in the state, she later added.
Tovar said she lives on a busy avenue in Little Village.
“My house shakes every time a heavy diesel truck passes by,” she said.
Barring the closure of the warehouse, protesters demanded Target electrify its truck fleet within the first year of operation there, pay its workers at least $20 to $25 an hour with benefits, as opposed to the current $18 starting wage, and hire 50% of its workers from two ZIP codes that encompass parts of Little Village and other neighborhoods, including Archer Heights, Brighton Park and North Lawndale.
Wasserman also called for Hilco to put solar panels — to power neighborhood homes — on its roof, and for Target to donate air filters to people who live near the distribution center.
Protesters said they stood in solidarity with workers at the warehouse, and said that if the workers wanted to unionize, they would help connect them with labor resources.
Target said in a statement that the company had worked with Hilco to design traffic routes that eliminate the use of residential areas in the neighborhood. Wasserman said in a text message that the environmental justice organization had been made aware of the plan, but had not been told of any enforcement plans for the routes. She added that if trucks are allowed only on Pulaski Road it would cause them to idle during rush hour in order to get on the freeway.
Gary Epstein , the executive vice president of Hilco Global, said in a phone call that the company had no comment.
Community members also directed criticism toward Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, for attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“As the elected representative of the ward, I felt like it was my responsibility to be there,” Rodriguez said in a phone call Tuesday afternoon. He said his office would “continue to work to make sure Target is a responsible neighbor.”
On Tuesday morning, the protest closed out with a reiteration of one of the day’s main chants.
“What do we want?”
“Clean air.”
“When do we want it?”
“Now.”
