Little Village residents who lived around the site of the botched implosion of a coal power plant in 2020 may be eligible for part of a $12.25 million settlement related to the incident.
The company responsible for the accident, Hilco Redevelopment, and its contractors agreed to pay the money as part of a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago.
The debacle coated the Southwest Side community in dust on April 11, 2020. People who own property in the area or were present at the time of the implosion could be eligible for payouts. They can find out more and file a claim online at littlevillagesmokestack.com.
As many as 90,000 people could be eligible for injury payments up to $500, according to a lawyer for the residents. And people who had property damage also could getpayments.
Those who were affected must submit a claim by March 26. Anyone who wants to object to the agreement or opt out of the settlement has until Feb. 26. Opting out is the only way a person can seek any other lawsuit against Hilco and its contractors.
The lawsuit was filed by three community residents shortly after the implosion of an almost 400-foot chimney at the former Crawford coal-fired power plant caused the structure to crash to the ground and blanket the community with a massive dust cloud.
The “toxic plume caused the residents of Little Village difficulty breathing, and it has had and will have a pronounced effect on their health in the future,” the residents said in their lawsuit. The dust plume also “coated dozens of properties and personal property throughout the neighborhood, reducing their value and requiring extensive remediation.”
Juan Rangel, who was among those who filed the lawsuit, said he lived about a block from the implosion and neither he nor his neighbors had adequate warning that it was going to take place. The lawsuit was necessary for residents who still harbor anger toward the developer and the city, he said.
“An implosion like that would never have been approved or happened anywhere else except Little Village,” said Rangel, who said he’ll give his settlement payout to charity.
After the incident, Hilco dropped off packets at the doors of neighbors that contained a note, three COVID-19 masks and a coupon for a free car wash, Rangel said. He couldn’t recall the details of the note but said, “It wasn’t an apology.”
Hilco demolished the plant to redevelop the area with a more than 1 million-square-foot warehouse that is now being leased to retailer Target. A Hilco executive declined to comment on the settlement.
Both the plans for the warehouse and the way the power plant was demolished have been contentious issues in the Little Village community.
The warehouse brings in hundreds of diesel-fuel trucks to Little Village daily, activists say, replacing one source of pollution with another.
The government oversight of the Crawford implosion was investigated by Chicago’s inspector general, who accused city officials of “negligence and incompetence.” The report recommended three city officials be disciplined, including the possible firing of one health department employee. No city officials involved with the oversight were fired.
Neither former Mayor Lori Lightfoot nor Mayor Brandon Johnson authorized the release of the report, though it was obtained by the Sun-Times in February 2023. The Sun-Times made the full report public.
In 2022, the Sun-Times reported that city officials had plenty of warnings about the potential for an environmental catastrophe.
Shortly after the bungled operation at Crawford, Lightfoot blamed Hilco, which ultimately paid $19,500 in city fines. The developer also settled a lawsuit brought by the state for $250,000.
Community members were appalled by both the size of the penalties against Hilco and what they called a lack of accountability from the city.
“I don’t know if a lawsuit can ever give closure,” said Scott Rauscher, a lawyer for the Little Village residents, “but we hope it will go a long way.”
A final approval hearing will be held April 22.
