Petcoke (see below)

Environment Matters



Petcoke

Petcoke is an oil refinery by-product that looks like black dust that they store in places like Southeast Chicago in the hopes of reselling as a form of dirty fuel to countries with less strict environmental regulations. Petcoke is a dirty substance that causes many health problems to communities that it is stored in. This is also an Environmental Justice issue because they only store the petcoke in working class, poverty-stricken communities. They are the ones that bear the brunt of these health hazards such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems caused by this dust.

Organizations like KCBX and the Koch Brothers have caused repeated health violations to affected communities like Southeast Chicago. This substance should not be stored in highly populated areas.

In 2015-2016, all of the petcoke ground piles were moved from the Southeast side out of Chicago, to other locations such as Kentucky and Virginia, thanks to lots of pressure from the community and the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke and the Southeast Side Environment Taskforce.

KCBX's South Terminal, at 10730 Burley Ave, is now a direct transfer facility that transfers the petcoke from one mode of transportation to another but does not store the piles in Chicago, and all Petcoke ground piles were eliminated in 2016.

This page last updated on 6/18/2020.