{"id":12006,"date":"2022-07-12T11:37:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T16:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/?p=12006"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T16:03:46","slug":"el-oeste-de-chicago-esta-limpiando-lo-ultimo-de-su-contaminacion-nuclear-los-residentes-expuestos-a-la-radiacion-dicen-que-no-se-ha-acabado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/07\/12\/west-chicago-is-cleaning-up-the-last-of-its-nuclear-contamination-residents-exposed-to-radiation-say-its-not-over\/","title":{"rendered":"West Chicago est\u00e1 limpiando lo que queda de su contaminaci\u00f3n nuclear. Los residentes expuestos a la radiaci\u00f3n dicen que \"esto no ha terminado\"."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c2719f5da\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Sandra Arzola was relaxing in her West Chicago home one weekend in 1995, when she heard a knock at the door. Recently married, she shared the gray duplex with her husband, mom and sister, and family members were constantly coming and going. But when Sandra answered the door that day, what she learned would change how she looked at her home and suburban community forever.<\/p>\n<p>At the door was a woman representing Envirocon, an environmental cleanup company. There was thorium on the family\u2019s property, the woman said, and if it was OK with them, workers were coming to remove it. It was the first time Sandra had heard of thorium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\">\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a0b43\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row vc_row-o-equal-height vc_row-flex vc_row-o-content-middle small\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone border_color_909090 border_style_solid \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a175a\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row vc_row-o-equal-height vc_row-flex vc_row-o-content-middle large top_margin_20px bottom_margin_20px\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"true\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row-bg-overlay row-bg-layer\" style=\"background: #FFFFFF; background: linear-gradient(90deg,#FFFFFF 0%,#FFFFFF 100%);  opacity: 1; \"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent force-phone-text-align-center inherit_tablet inherit_phone border_top_desktop_1px border_bottom_desktop_1px border_color_FFFFFF border_style_solid \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a1e1a\" data-midnight=\"\" data-column-margin=\"default\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row inner_row vc_row-o-equal-height vc_row-flex vc_row-o-content-middle\"  style=\"\"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\"> <div class=\"row-bg\" ><\/div> <\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12_inner col span_12  left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-7 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col child_column no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"   data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<h4 id=\"news-that-puts-power-under-the-spotlight-and-communities-at-the-center\"><strong>News that puts power under the spotlight and communities at the center.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates twice a week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div style=\"margin-top: -20px; \" class=\"vc_col-sm-5 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col child_column neg-marg no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"   data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"wpb_raw_code wpb_raw_html wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"_form_1\"><\/div><script src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.bluelena.io\/f\/embed.php?id=1\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>\u201cIt took me by left field,\u201d she said. \u201cBut [the representative] made it sound like everything was going to be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unknowingly, the Arzolas had bought their way into what the <i>Chicago Tribune <\/i>in 1979 called \u201cthe radioactive capital of the Midwest.\u201d Not long after they purchased the property, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated it a Superfund site because of the hazardous waste in their yard.<\/p>\n<p>The source of the danger was the old factory one block to the south of the Arzola home, which Jesse Arzola frequently went past while walking their dogs. From 1932 to 1973, the factory was the largest producer of <a href=\"https:\/\/lynasrareearths.com\/products\/what-are-rare-earths\/\">rare earth<\/a> and radioactive thorium compounds in the world. It started out producing lamps and later supplied thorium for the federal government\u2019s atomic bomb development. But perhaps the factory\u2019s most lasting legacy, at least in West Chicago, is the harmful radioactive waste that was dumped in ponds, piled at the factory and buried around homes and sidewalks across town.<\/p>\n<p>Residents raised health concerns as early as the 1940s about the toxic material, but these were regularly dismissed by the factory, last owned by the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation. Comprehensive environmental protection rules weren\u2019t put in place until the early 1970s, leaving the factory largely free to dispose of its nuclear waste for decades.<\/p>\n<p>It has taken just as long for the company and government to clean up the radioactive waste. As of 2015, the radioactive sites under federal jurisdiction near the factory have been cleaned to EPA standards. There are no remaining health risks from the land, according to government officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a3977\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-2.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of the closed Kerr-McGee factory next to railroad tracks in West Chicago\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">The closed Kerr-McGee factory in West Chicago, Ill., Oct. 24, 1979. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Photo courtesy of Erika Bartlett<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a5131\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>But below the factory, the groundwater is still polluted with a range of toxins \u2013 particularly uranium \u2013 that exceed protection standards. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, which has jurisdiction over the site, expects remediation to begin this fall. Although people in the area don\u2019t use that polluted groundwater, the state says it\u2019s the last known contamination issue \u2013 and removing most of it will hopefully eliminate any lingering concerns for residents.<\/p>\n<p>While city officials and some residents are eager to erase the stigma of nuclear contamination from the town\u2019s image, many newer residents, including myself, are just now learning about their neighborhood\u2019s long thorium history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople don\u2019t want to discuss it,\u201d said Jesse Arzola, \u201cbecause they are afraid of the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Arzolas were part of a wave of new residents who moved into the suburb 30 miles west of Chicago starting in the 1980s. From 1980 to 2007, white residents in the factory area declined by two-thirds and Hispanic residents nearly doubled, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/news\/20071105\/changing-face-of-a-neighborhood\">according to an analysis by the Daily Herald<\/a>. Many new West Chicago residents, especially those who did not speak English, didn\u2019t know of the radiation danger when they moved in.<\/p>\n<p>Prolonged or high levels of radiation exposure can damage genetic material in cells and cause cancer and other diseases later on, especially for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(15)61167-9\/fulltext\">children, who are more sensitive to radiation<\/a>. Only two public health studies, published in the early 1990s, have been conducted in West Chicago. Both found elevated cancer rates in the 60185 zip code, which includes the neighborhood around the factory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a60af\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-12.jpg\" alt=\"A hand-written sign outside a home reads \u201cWarning! This property is still radioactive\u201d in West Chicago, Ill., in the 1990s. The &quot;Th&quot; circled and crossed out stands for thorium, a radioactive metal.\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">A hand-written sign outside a home reads \u201cWarning! This property is still radioactive\u201d in West Chicago, Ill., in the 1990s. The &quot;Th&quot; circled and crossed out stands for thorium, a radioactive metal.<\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Photo courtesy of Erika Barlett<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a6e80\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Today, many residents still suspect that their cancers and other debilitating illnesses are related to factory contamination. Language barriers and discrimination add to the mistrust for many Latino residents.<\/p>\n<p>And decades of secrecy around the factory have left a legacy of worries.<\/p>\n<p>When Sandra Arzola first toured their home in 1990 with her mother and sister, she saw signs in the windows of neighboring houses with a big &#8220;Th&#8221; circled and crossed out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s all that about?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, I don\u2019t know,\u201d the realtor replied.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra Arzola wishes she had been told the truth when she was looking for a home. Decades later, she and her husband are living in another home in the same neighborhood. She still doesn\u2019t trust official statements that their property and the city drinking water are safe. They use bottled water instead of tap water to cook and drink because of their concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the realtor had been more forthright initially, then I could tell her, \u2018It doesn\u2019t matter\u2019 or \u2018Show me something else,\u2019\u201d Sandra Arzola said. \u201cBut she wasn\u2019t honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"decades-of-unregulated-dumping\"><b>Decades of Unregulated Dumping<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The challenges facing West Chicago residents today began 90 years ago, when Charles R. Lindsay moved his lamp factory from Chicago to what was then an undeveloped little town with multiple rail connections. The factory, now officially known as the Rare Earths Facility, took monazite ore and used powerful acids to extract minerals to make gas lanterns, which burned thorium nitrate to emit an incandescent glow. During World War II, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-2001-02-02-0102020309-story.html\">it also supplied thorium to the federal government<\/a> to develop the atomic bombs that were later dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.<\/p>\n<p>During its four decades of operation, the Rare Earths Facility processed up to 141,000 tons of monazite. The liquid waste from the extraction process was dumped into unlined ponds around the factory, seeping into the surrounding water table. Solid waste, a black, sand-like material known as thorium tailings, piled up on site. Old-timers share stories of sneaking into the factory grounds and playing on \u201cMount Thorium.\u201d When the pile got too big, the waste was trucked down the road to a new pile in Reed Keppler Park.<\/p>\n<p>Facing mounting piles of toxic waste, Lindsay came up with another solution: offer the waste to residents for landscaping. From the 1930s through the 1950s, radioactive thorium tailings were distributed across town, mixed with concrete to pour foundations, mixed with topsoil for gardens and spilled along roadways. The company continued to do this as the risks of radiation exposure became widely known starting in the late 1940s through its effects on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/how-atomic-bomb-survivors-have-transformed-our-understanding-radiation-s-impacts\"> Japanese atomic bomb survivors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a7b06\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web2-14.png\" alt=\"Timeline of cleanup up contamination in West Chicago ending with proposed final cleanup of groundwater in Fall 2022\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"media-credit\">Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a8662\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Soon after the factory moved to West Chicago, people started complaining. In 1941, nearby residents sued Lindsay Light for releasing airborne hydrofluoric acid that killed trees and shrubs nearby.<\/p>\n<p>The federal government did not begin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.gov\/about-nrc\/governing-laws.html\">regulating nuclear materials until 1954<\/a>. Starting in 1957 the company received repeated citations for safety violations, including failing to fence off radioactive storage areas, exposing workers to radiation levels above standards and improper waste disposal.<\/p>\n<p>As the environmental movement gained steam through the 1960s, growing public pressure pushed Congress to create the Environmental Protection Agency and pass the Clean Air Act of 1970 and Clean Water Act of 1972. That resulted in sweeping new regulations \u2013 and obligations to the American public \u2013 for companies like Kerr-McGee, which had gotten used to operating with limited oversight.<\/p>\n<p>Internal memos from the time show company executives scrambling to respond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis visitation is the forerunner of many future visits and closer surveillance and we must learn to stay one step ahead,\u201d wrote O.L. Daigle, a plant manager for the Rare Earths Facility, in a 1972 memo about an upcoming EPA visit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271a953d\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-3.jpg\" alt=\"A house jacked up with a pit dug around it\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">A house contaminated by thorium in the midst of being cleaned up in West Chicago, Ill., in the 1990s. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Photo courtesy of Erika Bartlett<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271aa42a\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>By the next year, Kerr-McGee had not complied with a broad slate of new environmental safety regulations. The EPA denied the company\u2019s request for an operating permit and the factory shuttered in 1973. It was cheaper to cease operations than follow the new rules.<\/p>\n<p>By 1980, Kerr-McGee had started the process of closing down the West Chicago facility for good. Pressure from residents and the city pushed the company to begin cleanup on 119 contaminated residential properties.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Kerr-McGee had another plan that worried residents: to permanently store 13 million cubic feet of radioactive waste at the factory site in a four-story, 27-acre clay-covered cell. Concerned residents formed an organization, the Thorium Action Group, to fight the company\u2019s proposal. This spawned <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoreader.com\/news-politics\/assault-on-mount-thorium\/\">more than a decade of legal battles<\/a> between residents, the city of West Chicago, and state of Illinois \u2014 who wanted the thorium out of town \u2014 and the company and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who insisted the waste could safely be stored in this densely populated neighborhood of West Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>After the state of Illinois took over oversight of the factory waste, the dispute finally appeared close to a resolution. In 1991, state lawmakers passed a bill that would charge the company $130 million each year to store the waste on site. Rather than pay the bill, Kerr-McGee decided to ship the contaminated materials to a hazardous waste disposal site in Utah.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"many-new-residents-were-in-the-dark\"><b>Many New Residents Were in the Dark<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Moving the thorium waste out of town would take over two decades to complete. In the meantime, there was still the problem of radioactive tailings embedded around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>The EPA did a series of flyover scans, street-by-street surveys and other testing to assess the damage. By 1991, contaminated residential properties \u2013 the final count was 676 out of 2,174 surveyed \u2013 as well as Reed Keppler Park, a wastewater treatment plant and Kress Creek south of the factory were placed on the EPA\u2019s National Priorities List as Superfund sites. The wastewater treatment plant\u2019s contamination came from receiving thorium tailings as fill during construction, not because of polluted sewage, according to the EPA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271ab33f\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-13-jpg.jpg\" alt=\"shows gamma activity in green around the Rare Earths Facility\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">EPA flyover scan measuring elevated gamma activity in West Chicago, Ill. in 1989.<\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">EPA<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271ac4c7\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>The Arzola family\u2019s home was among these sites. After the Envirocon visit, cleanup got underway. Workers in white hazmat suits excavated soil up to eight feet deep around the property. \u201cThe only thing left intact was the house,\u201dJesse Arzola said. \u201cThey dug right up to the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cleanup crew also tore up the sidewalk. To get to their front door, the family, including the couple\u2019s two-year-old daughter, crossed four-foot wide wooden planks over the gaping hole in the ground. They didn\u2019t trust the sturdiness of the guardrails, and instead walked carefully along the center. After the digging, the area was backfilled with clean dirt. The entire process took over six months.<\/p>\n<p>The Arzolas\u2019 experience is far from rare. Realtors in West Chicago have operated with a \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d policy, said longtime realtor and former West Chicago resident Dan Czuba. Unlike for radon or lead, realtors never received directives from the state or any licensing board to disclose other harmful thorium byproducts.<\/p>\n<p>People have had to do their own homework and decide whether or not a home was a risk. \u201cTo this day,\u201d Czuba said, \u201cI still don\u2019t know that there was an official statement of, \u2018Thorium will hurt you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271ad35c\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-11.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">An aerial view of the Arzola\u2019s house, front and center, and the field behind where the former Kerr-McGee factory once stood in West Chicago, Ill., Saturday, June 25, 2022. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271adff5\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Latino residents also continued moving in during the decades following the factory\u2019s closure. \u201cThe Mexican community wanted home ownership,\u201d said Czuba. \u201cThey took the slop and the junk from the non-Hispanics. They didn\u2019t argue and complain, they fixed them up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By 2010, West Chicago became the only town in DuPage County with a majority-Latino population. Today, 55% of its over 25,000 residents speak a language other than English at home, and 32% are foreign-born. \u00a0Activists feel that many of the newer residents weren\u2019t fully informed, or informed at all, about the risks of living near the former factory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lot of white flight, which brought in Mexican families who didn\u2019t know [the history], and in many cases didn\u2019t even speak the language to know,\u201d said Cristobal Cavazos, a local immigrant rights activist with Immigrant Solidarity DuPage.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the decades, various groups have tried to get the word out about thorium. The Thorium Action Group was active through the early 2000s. Once the EPA got involved and Kerr-McGee agreed to move the waste out, the group dissipated. \u201cWe all felt for the most part that the message was heard and it was getting done,\u201d said Czuba, the only realtor in the group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"nectar_single_testimonial\" tabindex=\"0\" data-color=\"default\" data-style=\"small_modern\"><div class=\"inner\"> <p><span class=\"open-quote\">&#8221;<\/span>\u201cTo this day,\u201d Czuba said, \u201cI still don\u2019t know that there was an official statement of, \u2018Thorium will hurt you.\u2019\u201d <\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Czuba notes that no Latino residents were involved in the group, though West Chicago\u2019s population was already about 17 percent Hispanic by 1980.<\/p>\n<p>Anna Maria Escamilla Jacobo is a former West Chicago resident whose grandfather, Viviano Escamilla, worked at the factory starting in the 1950s. Jacobo said residents like her grandfather knew of the risks but were afraid to speak up for fear of discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mentality was, \u2018nobody is going to listen to us because we\u2019re Mexican. We can try, but it\u2019s not going to do us any good,\u2019\u201d said Jacobo. \u201cMy grandfather feared that if he did say something there would be repercussions for him and the family and the Hispanic community. He would say, \u2018Nothing you can do, nothing you can do,\u2019 which was really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2007, Kathy Reinke-Bentham started <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/news\/20071109\/w-chicago-neighbors-banding-together-against-thorium\">another community group<\/a> because none of her neighbors knew about the issue. She had watched the property next door get dug up for thorium and then change ownership. The next owner, Maria Salazar, had no idea. Reinke-Bentham got Salazar\u2019s help translating information into Spanish and went around the neighborhood passing out leaflets and inviting people to meetings.<\/p>\n<p>Today, residents continue to spread the word about the town\u2019s thorium legacy and newer environmental issues. Cavazos\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrantsolidarityofdupage.org\/\">group<\/a>, which started in 2007, is among those mobilizing residents against a proposed waste transfer station in West Chicago. Members of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage see the station, which would be the city\u2019s second, as yet another instance of environmental health hazards unfairly impacting this minority community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_sep_color_black wpb_content_element vc_separator-has-text\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><h4 id=\"read-more-of-our-coverage\">Read More of Our Coverage<\/h4><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-inline-posts\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-inline-posts-container pk-inline-posts-template-list\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-columns=\"1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article id=\"post-10736\" class=\"post-10736 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail category-environmentandhealth category-organizing tag-trashstationdupage\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-overlay pk-overlay-ratio pk-ratio-landscape\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-overlay-background\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/03\/23\/latino-west-chicago-environmental-waste-development-community-backlash\/\" class=\"pk-overlay-link\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220322_WestChicago-3_featured.jpg\" class=\"attachment-pk-thumbnail size-pk-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"close image of Julieta Alc\u00e1ntar-Garc\u00eda wearing a red top with shite flowers and blue accents\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"pk-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/03\/23\/latino-west-chicago-environmental-waste-development-community-backlash\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">The Growing Fight Over a Trash Station in West Chicago<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"pk-meta-author meta-author\"><span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/author\/liuan-huska\/\" title=\"View all posts by Liuan Huska\">Liuan Huska<\/a><\/span><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sep\">\u00b7<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"pk-meta-date meta-date\"><a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/03\/23\/latino-west-chicago-environmental-waste-development-community-backlash\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">marzo 23, 2022<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header><!-- .entry-header -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .post-inner -->\n\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .post-outer -->\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_sep_color_black wpb_content_element\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>The factory\u2019s toxic legacy in West Chicago also continues to impact residents. Although the EPA announced that residential property cleanup finished in 2003, the agency later found 13 properties that were not cleaned to its standards and needed further cleanup.<\/p>\n<p>The agency also said letters were sent out to homeowners once their properties were remediated. The Arzolas don\u2019t recall receiving one. City, state and federal officials also decided against instituting deed notices or restrictions disclosing the contamination, to ensure properties didn\u2019t have their reputations unfairly tainted, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/news\/20071105\/changing-face-of-a-neighborhood\">the <i>Daily Herald<\/i><\/a>. Any information buyers might receive about past radiation scans or remediation now depends on a sellers\u2019 willingness to pass it on.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of easily accessible information surrounding the contamination and cleanups has left some residents with the nagging worry that there may be other hidden pockets of radiation around town. Some are afraid to plant edible gardens. The Arzolas want an updated scan of the area. Many have heard enough talk of thorium to cause concern, but not enough detail to feel confident that their environment is safe.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"is-it-because-of-the-thorium\"><b>\u201cIs It Because of the Thorium?\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>One house to the west and across the railroad from the Arzolas, Erika Bartlett grew up playing along the tracks and under her yard\u2019s sprawling old oak trees. When she was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012, at age 34, a friend asked if there was anything she could have been exposed to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait a minute, I actually was,\u201d Bartlett told her friend. She thought back to her high school years, when the oak trees, swingset and above-ground pool at her house were removed during the radiation remediation. Bartlett realized she had spent her childhood, starting from age four, in a neighborhood embedded with nuclear waste.<\/p>\n<p>She wondered how many others living near the factory had similar health problems. That started her on a yearslong personal investigation into the town\u2019s thorium legacy.<\/p>\n<p>Between 2012 and 2016, as Bartlett was undergoing cancer treatment, she knocked on doors in the neighborhoods around the factory, an area covering about one square mile. She found over 200 cases of cancers and other illnesses that could stem from radiation exposure, including birth defects, Hashimoto\u2019s and aplastic anemia, the illness that killed the pioneering radioactivity researcher Marie Curie in 1934.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b2b5f\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-4.jpg\" alt=\"Erika Bartlett outside in front of her childhood home\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">Erika Bartlett in front of her childhood home in West Chicago, Ill., Friday, June 3, 2022. Bartlett grew up less than one block away from the defunct Kerr-McGee factory, which produced radioactive waste that spread across West Chicago.<\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b373f\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>\u201cWhen I first started, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d find anything,\u201d Bartlett said. \u201cBut block after block, it seemed like a bigger deal than I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/semspub.epa.gov\/work\/05\/179817.pdf\">The EPA estimated that<\/a>, before the waste was removed, radiation levels in some residential neighborhoods in West Chicago increased lifetime cancer risks up to 70\u00a0 times what is acceptable. This means that if 10,000 people lived in those maximum exposure areas, 70 of them would develop cancer, in addition to the risk that 1 in 3 Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime. That doesn\u2019t account for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5859747\/\">other possible health effects<\/a> such as thyroid and autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/ntrl.ntis.gov\/NTRL\/dashboard\/searchResults\/titleDetail\/PB95154803.xhtml\">only official health studies<\/a> into the impacts on people living near the factory were conducted over three decades ago, by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Among residents in the 60185 zip code, studies in 1990 and 1991 found elevated rates of cancer, including melanomas and lung, colorectal and breast cancers. By grouping exposed and unexposed people together, however, researchers said more differences may have been masked.<\/p>\n<p>By 2006, follow-up assessments by IDPH concluded that the four Superfund sites posed \u201cno apparent public health hazard.\u201d That doesn\u2019t mean that residents aren\u2019t living with ongoing health impacts. A 1994 report notes that \u201cbecause of the long latent period for most cancers, current cases do not reflect recent exposure.\u201d Today, people may still be experiencing health issues from exposure decades earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b470d\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-7.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">Current and former West Chicago residents Erika Bartlett, Julieta Alcantar-Garcia, Mike Merrion, and Ester Escamilla Hughes talk about the effects of thorium contamination on their lives at Pioneer Park in West Chicago, Ill., Sunday, June 5, 2022. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/ Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b531b\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>In Facebook groups, West Chicago residents sometimes compare notes about their health issues. Anna Maria Escamilla Jacobo saw one of these threads in 2014. Comment after comment, she read about neighbors with lung diseases, early onset cancer and autoimmune disorders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeck yeah,\u201d she thought, \u201cthis is me all over the place.\u201d It was the first time she realized that her own illnesses might stem from living near the Kerr-McGee factory.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobo and her sister, Ester Escamilla Hughes, grew up in a little starter home just west of the factory, across the street from Pioneer Park.<\/p>\n<p>In 1989, just as Ester graduated high school, an EPA flyover survey found the area around the factory, including the park and the sisters\u2019 daily route to school, gave off elevated levels of gamma radiation. In some areas, the radiation was up to 40 times the average of what a person might ordinarily encounter.<\/p>\n<p>It has taken the Escamilla sisters years to unravel the potential impact of living by the factory.<\/p>\n<p>They both moved out of their childhood home by 1995. The next year, at age 27, Jacobo was diagnosed with Hashimoto\u2019s, an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid glands. The thyroid is <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00702-020-02260-5\">one of the organs at greatest risk of damage<\/a> after radiation exposure, especially in children. Jacobo also developed rheumatoid arthritis at age 44.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rheumatologist told me my lab results and X-rays were that of an 80-year-old with rheumatoid arthritis,\u201d Jacobo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b6242\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-8.jpg\" alt=\"Ester Escamilla Hughes in jean shorts and a white top sitting next to a glass table in her home\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">Ester Escamilla Hughes in her apartment in Chicago, Ill., Thursday, June 9, 2022. Hughes takes several daily supplements to help treat her autoimmune diseases that she believes were caused by exposure to radiation in West Chicago. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b6d9f\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Her sister was diagnosed with a range of illnesses shortly after turning 40, including Hashimoto\u2019s, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions affecting her lungs and immune system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started getting rashes, then I started gaining a lot of weight, my hands hurt, my fingers were turning purple,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI was like, \u2018What is happening to me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, longitudinal studies are difficult. Some who were exposed for decades have since moved away, while others arrived during or after the cleanup.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse and Sandra Arzola have had prostate and thyroid cancer, respectively. Before they talked with me they didn\u2019t connect their illnesses to past radiation exposure. It\u2019s hard \u2014 impossible really \u2014 to tell if any resident\u2019s illness stems from living near the factory, exposure to other carcinogens, genetic predisposition, or all of the above.<\/p>\n<p>But each new ailment comes under heightened scrutiny as residents ask, \u201cIs it because of the thorium?\u201d The community will never have a definite answer, even as they are haunted by ongoing worries.<\/p>\n<p>Yet others, like West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda, spent their entire lives living near the factory \u2014 Pineda even played at the Reed Keppler dump site \u2014 and seem perfectly fine. \u201cI\u2019m not aware of anybody who was ill from the factory,\u201d Pineda said. He added that if there were cases, the information would be privileged to clients and attorneys involved in lawsuits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b7c0f\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-10.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">Jesse Arzola walks his two dogs in the field where the Kerr-McGee factory one stood in West Chicago, Ill., Saturday, June 25, 2022. Arzola regularly walks his dogs through the field, which sits between the couple\u2019s first home, where his mother-in-law still lives, and their current home. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271b87c2\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the factory for damages to health and property. A few \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1986-03-12-8601180729-story.html\">those with political clout or connections<\/a>, notes the realtor Czuba \u2014 won hefty individual settlements. In 1998, a significant legal win came for hundreds of families when a district judge ordered Kerr-McGee to pay $5 million for \u201cmedical monitoring\u201d to account for future health effects on children living near the factory.<\/p>\n<p>Bartlett\u2019s family was part of the suit. She and her sister each received $4,000 and in return agreed not to sue the company for future personal injury. \u201cThe lawyer said, \u2018Take it. If you get sick there\u2019s nothing you\u2019re going to prove, they have such good lawyers,\u2019\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n<p>Bartlett\u2019s leukemia came back in 2014. Newer, effective treatments have allowed her to live in remission, but have left her with brain fog, vision impairments and cognitive issues.<\/p>\n<p>The settlement money \u201cdoesn\u2019t go far,\u201d she said. \u201cIt does nothing when you\u2019re sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"not-quite-past-history\"><b>Not Quite \u201cPast History\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>In November 2015, the last rail car of thorium-contaminated soil trundled away from West Chicago to a hazardous waste dump in the Utah desert. Mayor Pineda declared it a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/article\/20160517\/news\/160518933\/\">watershed moment.<\/a>\u201d Cleanup had stalled for years after Tronox, Kerr-McGee\u2019s spinoff company, went bankrupt in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the Rare Earths Facility is owned by a government trust that channels federal monies into the remaining cleanup.<\/p>\n<p>In the mayor\u2019s view, the disaster is now \u201cpast history.\u201d He\u2019s proud of the activists that got people in power to listen. Cleanup is almost done. And now he\u2019s ready to talk about other things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want that word [thorium] to pop up every time you hear \u2018West Chicago,\u2019\u201d Pineda said.<\/p>\n<p>That history will come back to life this fall, however, when the Illinois Emergency Management Agency begins the last phase of remediation on the factory site.<\/p>\n<p>The extensive groundwater contamination under the factory is currently contained by sheet piling that goes 70 feet below the ground, which was initially put in place to protect workers excavating contaminated soil. It now traps residual contaminants, preventing the groundwater from naturally diluting them over time.<b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_sep_color_black wpb_content_element vc_separator-has-text\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><h4 id=\"read-more-of-our-coverage-2\">Read More of Our Coverage<\/h4><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-inline-posts\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-inline-posts-container pk-inline-posts-template-list\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-columns=\"1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article id=\"post-11975\" class=\"post-11975 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail category-environmentandhealth tag-kerrmcgeefaq\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-overlay pk-overlay-ratio pk-ratio-landscape\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-overlay-background\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/07\/12\/frequently-asked-questions-west-chicago-kerr-mcgee-factory\/\" class=\"pk-overlay-link\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_featured-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-pk-thumbnail size-pk-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"A person in full body white suit helmet and yellow boots in a pit behind a fence with a sign that reads &quot;danger, no trespassing&quot;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"pk-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/07\/12\/frequently-asked-questions-west-chicago-kerr-mcgee-factory\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">FAQ: The Kerr-McGee Factory\u2019s Radioactive Legacy in West Chicago<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pk-post-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"pk-meta-author meta-author\"><span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/author\/liuan-huska\/\" title=\"View all posts by Liuan Huska\">Liuan Huska<\/a><\/span><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sep\">\u00b7<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"pk-meta-date meta-date\"><a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/07\/12\/frequently-asked-questions-west-chicago-kerr-mcgee-factory\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">julio 12, 2022<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header><!-- .entry-header -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .post-inner -->\n\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .post-outer -->\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_width_100 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_sep_color_black wpb_content_element\" ><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>A network of 122 monitoring wells on and around the site show several contaminants, notably radioactive uranium, exceed state standards. As a result, nearby residents aren\u2019t allowed to drill new wells.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs long as humans are not consuming the groundwater, there is no true health hazard,\u201d said Kelly Horn, IEMA\u2019s Branch Chief of Radiation Protection Services.<\/p>\n<p>The agency will use almost all of the remaining $36 million in federal funds for the operation, which will take three to five years.<\/p>\n<p>IEMA will release an environmental analysis of the cleanup project this summer, which Horn expects will show no negative impact on residents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the soil has been remediated, and the groundwater remediation will produce minimal waste, there really is no human health risk,\u201d said Horn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bb710\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-6.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">A faded \u201cno trespassing\u201d sign hangs on a fence surrounding the site where the Kerr-McGee factory once stood in West Chicago, Ill., Friday, June 3, 2022. Some residents in the area were paid just $4,000 after a class-action lawsuit was brought against the owners of the factory. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bc26d\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>The city of West Chicago plans to build a park designed with community input on the old factory site once remediation is complete. \u201cWhile the history will always be there,\u201d said City Administrator Michael Guttman, \u201chopefully something pretty stupendous will be in its place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked Guttman if the city has considered putting up signs noting the site\u2019s history. Victims of the atomic bomb fallout in Nagasaki and Hiroshima are memorialized with peace parks. Some residents want to see a tribute to the people affected by the Rare Earths Facility, which supplied materials for those bombs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not given that a moment\u2019s thought yet,\u201d Guttman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe that\u2019s something the community will have input on?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>After a few moments of silence on the other end of the call, I moved on.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"its-still-happening\"><b>\u201cIt\u2019s Still Happening\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>On the one hand, the story of West Chicago and thorium is one of triumph: a small town overcomes the odds and makes a big corporation clean up its radioactive waste. On the other hand, thorium still haunts some residents, especially those living with illness or deaths in the family that they suspect are related.<\/p>\n<p>While cleanup is almost finished, Cavazos said his community wants restorative justice. He wants to see a public forum acknowledging the damage done to the community by Kerr-McGee, especially to Mexican families who unwittingly bought contaminated properties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe narrative of the past has been lost. Ever since the \u201880s they\u2019ve tried to fast-forward,\u201d Cavazos said. \u201cPeople today are still sick from Kerr-McGee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kerr-McGee no longer exists. Many residents don\u2019t expect help for their ongoing health issues. And in the absence of an official response, some are trying to keep the story alive on their own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bd179\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row article-image\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/22.07.11_Thorium_web-5.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><span class=\"vc_figure-caption ccfic-text media-caption\">Erika Bartlett in front of the home of a former neighbor who died of a brain tumor in West Chicago, Ill., Friday, June 3, 2022. The neighbor lived across the street from the Kerr-McGee factory. <\/span><span class=\"media-credit\">Jonathan Aguilar\/Borderless Magazine<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bdd6b\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col padding-3-percent inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p>Abraham Marshall, a former resident whose wife suspects her autoimmune issues are factory-related, recently published the first of a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomic90.com\/\">youth science fiction books<\/a> about West Chicago\u2019s thorium history to honor victims. Bartlett and a student filmmaker compiled her neighbors\u2019 stories into a 2016 documentary film, \u201cA Lifetime Irradiated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompanies continue to profit off of people who are vulnerable in society,\u201d Bartlett said. \u201cWhat would be ideal is that enough people are aware of these kinds of practices so it doesn\u2019t keep happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Ester Escamilla Hughes, talking about West Chicago\u2019s thorium-laced past is about finding support for the ongoing health issues that have cropped up for her and other residents.<\/p>\n<p>The two sisters will never know for sure if living near the factory as children contributed to their ongoing chronic illnesses. Jacobo once asked her endocrinologist about it and was shut down. \u201cIt made me feel like I asked a dumb question. So I never went down that road,\u201d she said. Among the 125 extended family members on her mom\u2019s side, no one has the kind of serious health issues she and her sister have.<\/p>\n<p>Other doctors told Hughes that her illnesses might have been triggered by working at a quarry, where she was exposed to silica dust. She wonders if growing up around nuclear waste was the underlying problem that her work hazards exacerbated.<\/p>\n<p>Talking with other residents has brought Hughes some comfort that she\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you&#8217;re sick, you think, \u2018Oh my gosh, am I crazy?\u2019 Sometimes the doctors make you feel like you\u2019re crazy,\u201d she said. But knowing that other residents also share her story helps. \u201cWe are feeling something. Something did happen. And it\u2019s still happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"margin-top: 12.5px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 12.5px;\" data-width=\"100%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"default\" class=\"divider-border\"><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p><i>Correction 7\/28\/22: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Kerr-McGee factory is north of the Arzola&#8217;s home.<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \" >\n\t<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/2022\/07\/12\/frequently-asked-questions-west-chicago-kerr-mcgee-factory\/\">Check out our FAQ<\/a> for answers to common questions about West Chicago radiation contamination.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Have a story about West Chicago that you want to share? E-mail us at <a href=\"mailto:info@borderlessmag.org\">info@borderlessmag.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This story is available for free republication. Please contact us at <a href=\"mailto:info@borderlessmag.org\">info@borderlessmag.org<\/a> for permission and details on how you can use our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>This reporting was supported by the <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwmf.org\/\"><i>International Women\u2019s Media Foundation\u2019s<\/i><\/a><i> Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists and an award from the <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ijnr.org\"><i>Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i>Special thanks to Erika Bartlett, who shared documents and photos from her years of personal research for this story. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap \" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/IWMF_SmallUseHoriz.png\" alt=\"International Women&#039;s Media Foundation logo\"  \/>\r\n         <\/div>\r\n      <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bf730\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f2c271bfffa\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row vc_row-o-equal-height vc_row-flex bottom-links\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-animation-delay=\"\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap row-bg-layer\" ><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"wpb_widgetised_column wpb_content_element\">\n\t\t<div id=\"sidebar\" data-nectar-ss=\"\" class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2 id=\"related-stories\" class=\"wpb_heading wpb_widgetised_column_heading\">Related Stories<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-4 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone \"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"wpb_widgetised_column wpb_content_element\">\n\t\t<div id=\"sidebar\" data-nectar-ss=\"\" class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2 id=\"recent-stories\" class=\"wpb_heading wpb_widgetised_column_heading\">Recent Stories<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Una f\u00e1brica local fue en su d\u00eda el mayor productor de torio del mundo. Este oto\u00f1o, la \"capital radiactiva del Medio Oeste\" realiza una \u00faltima limpieza. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":11997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[325,66],"tags":[363],"coauthors":[369],"class_list":{"0":"post-12006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environmentandhealth","8":"category-investigation","9":"tag-kerrmcgeefactory"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are West Chicago&#039;s Radiation Worries Over? &#8211; Borderless Magazine NFP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A factory was once the largest producer of thorium in the world. Now the \u201cradioactive capital of the Midwest\u201d is doing one last cleanup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2022\/07\/12\/el-oeste-de-chicago-esta-limpiando-lo-ultimo-de-su-contaminacion-nuclear-los-residentes-expuestos-a-la-radiacion-dicen-que-no-se-ha-acabado\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Chicago is Cleaning Up the Last of its Nuclear Contamination. Residents Exposed to Radiation Say &#039;It\u2019s Not Over&#039; &#8211; Investigation &#8211; Borderless Magazine NFP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Chicago is Cleaning Up the Last of its Nuclear Contamination. 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