:quality(70):focal(396x216:406x226)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/6JTLEP6ILBE7TFXHHPB5BSSTW4.jpeg)
To the Editor:
For too long, immediate economic growth and development have been prioritized over the long-term health and prosperity of communities and the environment in which they live. That’s why residents near Joliet, Openlands and Sierra Club are suing the City of Joliet to fight the proposed NorthPoint Intermodal Facility, which would result in catastrophic environmental and infrastructural outcomes for the city and its residents.
The City of Joliet is again moving ahead with plans to unlawfully annex and rezone a collective 1,360 acres of residential and agricultural land for East Gate to build a massive industrial warehouse complex. Many residents of the Will County area vehemently oppose this proposed development, which would pave idyllic farm fields, bombard people with noise, and pollute globally important habitat in Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
Joliet’s reasoning for welcoming NorthPoint is the same reason why other cities have sacrificed their community’s wellbeing for a massive intermodal facility: the promise of financial gain and jobs. While we do not oppose freight, creating yet another megalith development that would needlessly sacrifice local communities and natural resources is wasteful, irresponsible and immoral, running contrary to local, county and regional plans.
NorthPoint would result in an addition of 53,000 new trucks and cars per day, worsening pollution and intensifying serious traffic issues. This would damage and destroy roads far from interstates, diverting funding from a billion dollars in needed work, a cost that will come out of the pockets of taxpayers, local residents, and businesses. NorthPoint would withdraw one million gallons of water, hastening the impending water crisis that Joliet already faces.
Looking at the facts, the costs of NorthPoint far outweigh any benefits. To be competitive, sustainable land use, transportation, and freight can and must coexist. The people of Joliet and this region deserve better.
Delilah LeGrett
Elwood