By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890
(CHICAGO) There could be a plan in the works to strip Chicago of the regional EPA office. It’s an idea that isn’t sitting well with Illinois lawmakers.
The Sun-Times’ Michael Sneed reports that the Chicago office could be consolidated with one in Kansas.
The shift would impact not only Chicago, but the Great Lakes region as well.
Politico has already reported that President Trump’s budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, singled out the EPA as a particular target for budget cuts and the EPA was to identify two regional offices for closure by June 15.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says, “the report that the federal government is planning to close the Region 5 office of the EPA should be concerning to us all,” referencing the recent chemical spill at U.S. Steel.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says he is ” deeply concerned” by the report and says, ” such an action would be irresponsible” and demonstrates a “clear disregard for the health and safety of millions of residents of the Great Lakes region.”
Durbin has vowed to “do everything in my power as a United States Senator and enlist the bipartisan support of my Great Lakes region colleagues to ensure that this plan never happens.”
