‘The Air We Breathe:’ How industry is polluting Cicero’s air
Poor air quality and pollution has been a persistent problem in Cicero and nearby Little Village for decades, with experts attributing it to Cicero’s century-long history of heavy industry, its residential density and a lack of parks and trees.
In March 2023, the Independiente partnered up with MuckRock to install air quality sensors on volunteers’ homes. These sensors are installed in three locations in Cicero: near 51st Court and 14th Street, 54th Court and 31st Street and 59th Avenue and 38th Street. Our sensor readings showed that Cicero’s air quality is markedly worse than places with other bustling industrial corridors in Chicagoland, such as the Lower West Side and Navy Pier.
The health effects of living in a place with decidedly poor air quality can be devastating and stretch across generations. Emissions from gas- and diesel-powered trains, trucks and machines include harmful pollutants: volatile organic materials, or VOM, which include cancer-causing compounds.
For more information on our project and to explore the data, check out the GitHub repository.
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The inside story on a billion-dollar chemical company’s fight to keep its secrets from the public
After the Cicero Independiente and MuckRock published investigative articles about air pollution and the chemicals company Koppers, it hired a public-relations firm to organize a secret, behind-the-scenes campaign to influence local officials.
La historia interna de la lucha de una empresa química multimillonaria por ocultar sus secretos al público
Después que Cicero Independiente y MuckRock publicaran artículos de investigación sobre la contaminación atmosférica y la empresa química Koppers, ésta contrató a una empresa de relaciones públicas para organizar una campaña secreta entre bastidores para influir a los funcionarios locales.
MuckRock and partners recognized for its journalism
MuckRock has won the First Amendment Coalition’s Free Speech and Open Government Award for its data journalism collaborations and was named a finalist for the National Institute for Health Care Management Awards and Sigma Awards.