Many residents say that's the wrong use of the money. The project should be demolished, they argue, and they should be provided housing in less-toxic neighborhoods. There are dozens of manufacturing and chemical processing plants, smokestacks, a massive landfill that looms nearby and a sewage treatment plant across the street. Altgeld is only a short distance from a major interstate and the heavily polluted Little Calumet River. A wooded area near the river is a popular site for illegal dumping and is littered with construction debris and trash.
Residents believe other contaminants are still lurking in the ground.
A distinctive and unpleasant odor often hangs heavily over Altgeld, and residents say they are sometimes awakened at night by particularly noxious smells. So far, research is relatively sparse and raises as many questions as it answers. One study found a high incidence of asthma and other respiratory ailments among Altgeld residents and a high rate of medical problems among newborns. The Chicago factor Some suggest that the problems at Altgeld persisted despite residents' activism and agitation because in Chicago, still one of the United States' most segregated cities, the concerns of poor blacks historically weren't high on the political agenda. That, however, is not an easy process.