To: President Donald Trump, The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, Governor J.B. Pritzker, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Stop the Storage of Hazardous Substances Near Residential Areas
Currently, energy giants such as BP are storing hazardous materials including petroleum products and ethanol within yards of residential areas. Crude oil shipments on U.S. Class 1 railroads, the major freight lines, have increased 85-fold since 2006, from 4,700 carloads to 400,000 in 2013. This has caused an increased need for the storage of these hazardous substances. Communities, such as the Blackhawks Estates trailer park in Des Plaines, IL are located dangerously close to toxic, flammable, and explosive substances and millions of men, women, and children at risk.
Why is this important?
BP, which found itself at the center of several of the nation's worst oil and gas-related disasters, is storing hazardous substances in enormous storage tanks adjacent to the Blackhawk Estates (A.K.A. 400s) trailer park in Des Plaines, IL. This particular location is also within close proximity of O'Hare Airport. In the late 1970s, a plane crashed, just missing the oil tanks and trailer park. As it were, 271 people died in this crash, yet had the plane hit these storage tanks, it's likely no one in the vicinity would have survived. In addition, this trailer park is known for flooding - families can be exposed to hazardous substances by walking through contaminated and toxic water. These substances can also seep into the community's water supply. Hazardous substances have no place near residential areas and have a significant negative impact on public and environmental safety. Legislation must be passed to immediately stop this practice and enforce the public safety of citizens living in residential areas who are currently at risk. For more information visit: http://bit.ly/1lRQSYU