"If you take away our health, you take away our wealth," Sanchez, a community planning manager at the Southeast Environmental Task Force, told Insider.
The first-of-its-kind settlement with HUD could be a model for environmental justice advocates in other cities.
If the city didn't agree to address environmental harms, it risked losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal housing money.
"Now all levels of city government have to listen to us and develop policies that are protective of public health."
Sanchez said the case underscored the importance of updating city policies, because administrations come and go.
Persons:
Oscar Sanchez, Sanchez, polluters, Robert Weinstock, who's, he's, Cheryl Johnson, Johnson, Jamie Kelter Davis, Weinstock, Brandon Johnson, Charles Rex Arbogast, Angela Tovar
Organizations:
Service, Environmental, Force, US Department of Housing, Urban Development, Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, Urban, Community, Factories, Washington, Getty, Chicago AP
Locations:
Chicago's, Chicago, Lincoln Park, Black, Calumet