Waste War Special Series: Let's Start With Environmental Racism

Welcome to Season Three of The Elgin Watchman podcast. As you know, we got off to a slow start with this podcasting season . . . winter weather, public meeting cancellations, etc. Regardless, we're back in the saddle again. We appreciate your patience as we find our podcast publishing rhythm again.
 
As we've done in the past, the first podcast drop of each month is coverage of the Elgin Sustainability Commission. The second podcast of each month is an episode that is part of a deep-dive topic series that runs throughout the course of a the season. For example, we focused on Lead in Elgin's Drink Water System during Season One. In our second season, we partnered with Friends of the Fox River and collaborated on a series focused on a variety of Fox River watershed issues including the recently proposed dam removal project.

THIS SEASON, we will dedicate the second episode of every month to a new topic -- Waste Wars -- where we will explore waste/recycling issues for Elgin and surrounding communities. We feel this topic is especially relevant in 2024 because the Elgin City Council is seeking proposals from waste haulers with whom they want to contract the community's waste and recycling services for the next 3, 5, and perhaps even 10 years.
 
In today's first episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia interviews Cristobal Cavazos of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage about Environmental Racism. Specifically, they discuss the City of West Chicago's fight with LRS (Lakeshore Waste Recycling Services) over trying to site a second waste transfer station in their Latinx majority community.
 
Why is talking with someone outside of Elgin about a waste transfer station located outside of Elgin important? Because . . . 

• There is a waste transfer station located in Elgin
• Elgin's waste transfer station is owned by Waste Management (WM)
• Starting this podcast series with the topic of transfer stations makes sense because it links to the topic of negotiating a contract with a new waste hauler (or renewing the current contract with Waste Management). How? Because WM's waste transfer station gives them a competitive advantage by lowering their internal operating costs.
• And what happens if the city council decides to contract with a waste hauler other than WM (aka our current hauler)? Could there be a future push to site a second waste transfer station in Elgin (similar to what West Chicago is dealing with)?
• What are the implications surrounding waste transfer stations? Who in the community bears the brunt of those public decisions?
• And so on and so forth . . . you get the idea. We will explore many topics associated with Elgin's waste and recycling efforts. Hopefully, we will all learn something along the way.

We're only at the beginning of this Season Three special series, so buckle up buttercup. Things are going to get interesting at city hall. Get involved . . . Be engaged . . . AND . . . Always keep watch!
 
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