The Hardest-Working Paper in America | 
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Brett_Chase-01.0.jpg

Brett Chase

Reporter - (Environmental, Planning & Public Health)

Brett Chase reports on environmental protection, pollution and public health. He is a former investigative reporter for the Better Government Association, and, before that, worked at Bloomberg News, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Crain’s Chicago Business. He has a journalism degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and has taught journalism at Loyola University in Chicago.

A grey wind turbine with three blades stands against a hazy blue sky, near the Testa Produce facility in Chicago.
The Watchdogs
Will climate change suck the air out of Illinois' wind power industry?
Wind and solar are supposed to replace coal plants that are closing, but that didn’t happen in 2023. Another fossil fuel, natural gas, filled the void.
By Brett Chase and Dan Gearino | Inside Climate News
 
Clouds of dust spread across the Little Village neighborhood after a smokestack was imploded April 11.
La Voz Chicago
Juez autoriza un acuerdo de $12.25 millones en la demanda colectiva por la tormenta de polvo de Hilco en La Villita
El constructor Hilco y sus contratistas acordaron pagar el dinero a los residentes del barrio por la implosión fallida de la chimenea en 2020. Se exigió al alcalde Brandon Johnson que publicara un reporte sobre la supervisión “negligente” de la Ciudad.
By Brett Chase
 
Clouds of dust spread across the Little Village neighborhood after a smokestack was imploded April 11.
Environment
Judge OKs $12.25 million class-action settlement over Hilco's Little Village dust storm
Developer Hilco and its contractors agreed to pay the money to neighborhood residents for the 2020 botched smokestack implosion. Mayor Brandon Johnson was urged to release a report on the city’s “negligent” oversight.
By Brett Chase
 
City officials were warned of possible dangers months before the botched implosion of the Crawford smokestack in the 3500 block of South Pulaski Road in 2020.
La Voz Chicago
La funcionaria que supervisó la implosión en La Villita recibe la aprobación para liderar el Departamento de Edificios
Marlene Hopkins debería haber sido sancionada por su papel en la supervisión de la demolición fallida por Hilco de la antigua planta eléctrica Crawford en 2020, según un reporte de un organismo de control. El miércoles, casi dos docenas de concejales elogiaron a la nueva jefa del Departamento de Edificios.
By Brett Chase
 
City officials were warned of possible dangers months before the botched implosion of the Crawford smokestack in the 3500 block of South Pulaski Road in 2020.
Environment
Official who oversaw Little Village implosion gets City Council OK to head buildings department
Marlene Hopkins should have been disciplined for her role overseeing the botched Hilco demolition of the former Crawford power plant in 2020, a watchdog report said. On Wednesday, nearly two dozen alderpersons praised the new top buildings official.
By Brett Chase
 
Prisoners' rights advocates demonstrate at a press conference outside 77 W. Jackson Blvd on Monday, April 15, 2024. Advocates delivered a legal petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address unsafe drinking water in Illinois prisons. | Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times
Environment
Rancid, unsafe water at Illinois prisons threatens health, violates human rights, groups allege
Advocates for the incarcerated filed a petition with the U.S. EPA, asking the environmental agency to step in and fix a crisis they say Gov. Pritzker is not addressing.
By Brett Chase
 
Environment
Chicago climate lawsuit against Big Oil moved to federal court — for now
BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell argued city’s case belongs in U.S. District Court. A legal expert predicts it will move back to Cook County Circuit Court.
By Brett Chase
 
A spokeswoman says Attorney General Kwame Raoul is worried that rising costs are “putting affordable gas utility service out of reach for a growing number of Chicagoans.” Here, Peoples Gas crew member Joe Albrecht works on replacing gas pipes in the on We
Environment
Unions push back on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to end natural gas connections
A nearly nine-hour hearing of City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy was a preview of a fight to come over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed ordinance to end connections of carbon-dioxide producing natural gas.
By Brett Chase
 
A dust cloud from a smokestack implosion blanketed part of Little Village on April 11, 2020.
The Watchdogs
Brandon Johnson appoints official negligent in Little Village implosion debacle to run Buildings Department
Marlene Hopkins was the city official in charge of reviewing plans for the 2020 Crawford coal plant implosion that ended up blanketing the Southwest Side community in dust.
By Brett Chase and Lauren FitzPatrick