Northwest Incinerator (Chicago, Illinois) | incinerator / incineration plant, pollution

 incinerator / incineration plant, pollution

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Chicago trash incinerator constructed in 1971 and decommissioned in 1996. Leftover ash from the incinerator was dumped into Stearn's Quarry landfill: wikimapia.org/#y=41842999&x=-87648443&z=17&l=0&m=h&v=2

In September of 1993, the EPA cited the Northwest Incinerator for numerous violations of air pollution regulations for particulate matter emissions and opacity levels. At the time, the incinerator burned up to 20 percent of the garbage collected by the City of Chicago. Recent studies have linked particulate matter, especially fine particles (alone or in combination with other air pollutants), with a series of significant health problems, including aggravated asthma and acute respiratory symptoms such as severe chest pain, gasping, aggravated coughing, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function. Opacity levels measure the amount of light that passes through a smokestack's plume; they are a measure of particulate matter emissions.

The EPA believes the violations continued until the incinerator was closed on June 12, 1996. The Justice Department filed suit on behalf of EPA against the City of Chicago on October 2, 1997, alleging violations of the Clean Air Act. The Act applies to municipalities as well as corporations and individuals.