Our work in Lake County has been featured recently on the news – in The Chicago Tribune and on the radio.
Lake County Outreach Director, Celeste Flores, is at the forefront of advocacy efforts to protect the health of communities from the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide, which Medline in Waukegan and Vantage Specialty Chemicals in neighboring Gurnee are both emitting.
Read the full article here to learn why the colorless, carcinogenic gas is not just a concern for those that live in and around Willowbrook, where residents have been fighting against Sterigenics – a company that, like Medline, uses ETO to sterilize medical equipment – since August. Though Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham and his staff have known about the risk to Lake County residents also since August, the public only recently learned that they could be harmed.
Celeste was also recently interviewed on WBEZ's Worldview program to talk with host, Jerome McDonnell, and Jessica Collingsworth, Lead Midwest Energy Policy Analyst/Advocate at Union of Concerned Scientists, about the UCS' recent report titled Soot to Solar. The report, which you can read here, includes a case study on the Waukegan Generating Station. It shows the coal-powered plant can close today without disrupting service and save 143 premature deaths. Listen to Celeste and Jessica share why this is part of a just transition to renewable energy.
And...if you love podcasts, we've got one more for you! Check out Celeste's conversation with Megan Mio from the Mission Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago to hear how Celeste's Catholic faith is integral to her vocation.