Members Raise Funds for SETF

Jim and Julia, residents of the Southeast Side and two of SETF's biggest fans, have offered to fund raise for us by walking on behalf of the Task Force in the "Walk Wisconsin" marathon on June 4th.  The 13.1 mile course utiizes the beautiful trail system in and around Portage County's urban areas.  Upon complition, they will receive a commorative T-shirt and medallion.  If you would like to support their efforts, you can make a pledge of .50 or 1.00 per mile for the 13 miles.



Yes, I would like to pledge now.

Berry Juice Photo Cells

The SETF office became a temporary lab on March 13th when Robert LeSuer, our President and resident Chemist, conducted his "Make a Solar Cell Workshop".   With the assistance of his chemistry students from nearby Chicago State University, he demonstrated how to use berry juices, iodine, Titanium Oxide, glass slides and other materials to construct and to create a photovoltaic cell that generates electricity. The process is similar to the one used by solar cells.   Different types of berry juices, such as strawberry, blueberry and mixtures were tested to see which one worked best for generating a current. Participants were fascinated by the process and enjoyed the "hands on" experience. 

Captivated audience.

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"Lab assistant" mixes the solutions.

NO doubt a mixed audience.

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Students explain the steps.

Examining the results.

Testing the current.

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Assisting with the process.

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"Hands on"

Robert LeSuer explains the process.

Great Blue Herons

On March 15, SETF along with representatives from Chicago Audubon, Chicago Department of the Environment, The Chicago Legal Clinic,  two Northwestern students, and a reporter gathered on a mission to scout for nesting Blue Herons near Whitford Pond.  Blue Herons are large waterfowl that build their nests high atop trees next to ponds that serve as sources of food for the birds.

We were hiking the property owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclaimation Department, the site that the Chicago Police Department is proposing to build an outdoor firing range on and the only site in Chicago known for nesting Blue Herons.  The property is isolated, being surrounded by landfills on three sides.   It was last used as a staging area for the deep tunnel project and still contains limestone spoils that had not all been removed.  We walked atop those spoils toward the pond and where the spoils ended, the marshy terrain began.  As we trumped through the ankle deep water toward the huge nests that were easily visible in the bare trees, the nervous birds took flight.  We continued hiking toward the pond curious to get a closer look, noting the many deer tracks along the way.

We had to scale a berm in oder to get a view of the Whitford Pond. This time of the year it's a rippling pool of water surrounded by thinned out Phragmities.    With mission accomplished and not wanting to disturb the birds any more, we headed back to the SETF office to warm up with a hot cup of coffee.

Photo courtesy of Chicago Ornithological Society, 15 March 2011
Great Blue Heron nesting on MWRD property



Single nest




Looking closely, you can spot two birds standing in their nests.




Looking out over the Whitiford Pond.




Hiking along the berm surrounding Whitford Pond.

Left to right

John Pastirik, Calumet Ecological Park Association
Jill Nilland, Chicago Ornithological Society
Carolyn Marsh, Chicago Audubon Society
Peggy Salazar, Southeast Environmental Task Force
Jennifer Maxwell, Calumet Initiative




Grove of trees where birds are nesting.




View of Whitford Pond looking south.



No More Coal!

A three-billion dollar coal gasification plant that will turn coal and pet coke into syn-gas is planned for Southeast Chicago under the guise of Clean Energy.  The project will take 3 years to build and will be located on the site of an old steel mill.  It will provide 1000 temporary jobs and 100 - 150 permanent ones.  Sound good so far?  Well, here's what they don't tell you:

• Pet coke, a by-product of the petroleum industry is dusty,  contains harmful toxins and needs a market.
• In addition to the pet coke, 3 million tons of coal will need to be mined annually for this plant and the mining of coal is harmful to the environment
• The transportation of the coal and pet coke will add more emissions to the air.  The gasification process will add more soot and smog.  The burning of the gas produced will  add even more.
• Local utilities are being forced to purchase a percentage of this gas (SB 3388) at a higher rate because it costs more to manufacture gas; that increase in cost will be passed on to the local consumer - you.   
• The process will pull 10 million gallons of our drinking water from the river every day of which only portion will be returned.
• Locally, the plant will mean an increase in  traffic on already congested streets, more dust in the air from the handling and storage of the coal and pet coke and a decrease in  an already compromised air quality

 We depended on our local politicians to bring economic promise to our community through remediation and redevelopment of our many brownfields, and we expected intelligent, sustainable solutions.  Instead it is apparent the Southeast side is a dumping ground for nothing more than detrimental industry like asphalt storage, scrap yards, food scrap processing and more coal plants.

Water cannons trying to keep dust down on coal piles.

House siding covered in coal dust.

Coal dust floating on child's toy water table.

Lime dusting the neighborhood streets as it leaks from the back of a truck.

Pet coke and coal dust tracked onto neighborhood streets from storage yard.

Neighborhood cars coated with lime dust from processing facility.

Mounds and mounds of scrap metal ready for crushing and shipping.

Back to Nature

Last Friday, things were looking "pretty" at the Task Force office.  Nine eager women showed up for our "Naturally You" pampering workshop.  It was the perfect project for a cold, wintry evening.  The purpose of the workshop was to demonstrate healthy ways in which to pamper oneself with beauty treatments that didn't contain manufactured chemicals or cost much. 

We gathered everyday items found on most kitchen shelves and made beauty concoctions that not only worked, but in some cases were good enough to eat.  With each recipe made, we explained the why and how of each ingredient.  Things like natural yogurt, sugar, golden honey, and lemon rind were turned into gooey  substances to slather on.  The women cheerfully measured and mixed their way to beauty.  At the end, all commented on how much fun they had and how much they had learned.  They left our office content with their baby food jars full of  sugar scrub and bath salts to continue their beautification process at home.



Relaxing facial message.





Looking pleased as punch.



Using a little elbow grease to mix up the bath salts.



Sugar scrub or ice tea mix?

Sticky fun!



Website updates

Please note that we are undergoing some changes at the SETF website (www.setaskforce.org) and the website may be up and down, under construction and a bit finicky for a bit.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The website updates will not affect this blog, and we will use the blog to keep you updated with any important information.

Thanks for your patience.

SETF 2010 Fall Fundraiser

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