Why Openlands Has Joined A Lawsuit Against The City of Joliet

Share:

By Openlands’ Senior Counsel, Stacy Meyers

Founding Board President, Jeff Short, once said, “You’ve got to save the land at least twice from all the threats that come later after you preserve it.” Jeff’s statement rang true when Openlands led a coalition of 30 partners to successfully fight against the Illiana Tollway, which would have paved over thousands of acres of prime farmland and federally protected wildlife at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and it rings true again today as Openlands joins another fight to protect Midewin.

At the end of November, Openlands joined Sierra Club and Say No To Northpoint in a request to intervene in a lawsuit in State Circuit Court against the City of Joliet for violating its own ordinances, adopting an agreement that predetermined legislation, and proceeding with an unlawful zoning process to bring NorthPoint Intermodal Facility to the city, placing Midewin in harm’s way along with residents in the shadow of the project.

Intermodal facilities and warehouses have increasingly populated the Joliet area, from planned development in clustered industrial areas, like Centerpoint, to haphazard megalith proposals that are out of sync with and would needlessly sacrifice local communities and globally significant natural resources. NorthPoint – a proposed 4.5 square mile warehousing and intermodal facility – would steamroll over rural agricultural villages and townships that have fought tooth and nail to protect their homes and way of life. Dropped down about 8 miles from any interstate, the intermodal would destroy or seriously degrade local roads, rerouting trucks away from consensus-born billion dollar traffic solutions.  An additional 53,000 cars and trucks per day would infuse the area with pollution and noise, adding to serious traffic issues that have resulted in the deaths of local residents. Veterans have increasingly come out in opposition to the project as damaging to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, interrupting funeral processions and compressing traffic in what is supposed to be a peaceful resting place for soldiers who fought for our country. It is a wasteful, disrespectful, damaging mess.  And yet, CenterPoint remains a third vacant, and warehouses in Joliet lie empty.   

The damage from NorthPoint would spill over into the globally imperilled landscapes of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, which has been a poster child for restoring iconic prairie and wetlands, where hundreds of kinds of wildlife live and rest. Midewin is home to some of the rarest habitat in the world, with hundreds of acres left – some say that is rarer than the rarest rainforest.  The constant intrusion of light, noise, pollution and vibration as a result of the increased traffic and infrastructure required to make room for the facility will harm this place, rendering it hospitable for the rapidly declining species of birds, bats, and other wildlife that it was created to shelter. More than that, it robs the area and this part of the Midwest of a substantial ecotourism opportunity, which has been burgeoning with millions of dollars in government tax dollars and philanthropic support.  

Along with ecological damages, NorthPoint poses a severe danger for Joliet residents, whose water supply is at serious risk. Northpoint will pull one million gallons of water out of an aquifer that is vital to Joliet and surrounding communities, when the City is already on the brink of a water crisis. Two studies have warned that the City will fail to meet its peak water demand by 2030, and that if it takes severe conservation measures, it can secure and pipe to a new water source. The water could start to run dry as early as one to six years if the City fails to adequately act. The studies warned that these projections were based on no new major demands on its water supply. Yet, Joliet would allow NorthPoint to draw out 1,000 gallons of water per minute, without even studying how this huge amount of water could accelerate the City’s crisis and cause wells in the area to drop substantially.

With so many damages and risks posed by one facility, you would think that the City of Joliet would pause to think how we could accommodate freight in other areas that wouldn’t result in such draconian sacrifices. Yet, Joliet has proceeded with its plan to welcome NorthPoint to the city, ignoring its own process, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy with an annexation agreement that so far has in effect sold legislation.  All the long, it is exposing Joliet to great risk through exorbitant infrastructure costs, unmanageable traffic, water loss, needlessly sacrificed jobs in other industries, and damage to public lands. One of the main arguments that drives the decision to welcome intermodal facilities to a city is the expectation that they will bring in jobs and stimulate the local economy. However, the project brings more risk than benefit to Joliet. NorthPoint in past applications required $50 million in tax increment financing for the project to succeed, and the project numbers simply do not add up. What NorthPoint doesn’t say is it is generating jobs by needlessly sacrificing jobs in other industries. This is a false choice resulting from a horrible location. At a time of great division and skyrocketing unemployment, residents of Joliet and our region need to unite behind better answers. 

Openlands was part of the delegation that once met in the mid nineties to envision how we could transform a shuttered World War 2 ammunition plant into a mosaic of complementary industry, agriculture, and beautiful vast open space. There, Midewin Tallgrass Prairie and Lincoln National Cemetery were born, and roads were planned to quickly move trucks onto nearby interstates. This collective of municipalities, agencies, economic and public interest groups are again meeting as part of a regional planning initiative called Moving Will County. As a stakeholder, Openlands sees this as a way to break gridlock, move beyond the controversial stalemate of NorthPoint, and find a way to once again build consensus around smart solutions.    

Openlands has joined a legal fight, alongside people who live and farm in this special place, because as an organization, we believe that, to be competitive on a global scale, the protection of nature and jobs creation can and must coexist, and that it is imperative that we work together with all the partners for a more equitable, resilient, healthy land-use solution. By stopping the NorthPoint facility, we will clear the way for all industries to thrive alongside centennial farms, allowing for the full promise of a flourishing, majestic Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie for all of us and generations to come to visit and experience. You can get involved with the fight in three ways:

1.    Show up to meetings and hearings

2.    Contact your local representatives

3.    Contact your county and state representatives

For more information on how to get involved locally, visit Say No to NorthPoint.  

Related Posts

Scroll to Top