Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) Campaign
A Victory for Environmental Justice – and a Promise for the Future
Friends of the Parks (FOTP), Alliance for the Southeast (ASE), the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), community members, and allies recently celebrated a major win: stopping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from expanding a toxic landfill on Chicago’s lakefront. This victory brings us closer to realizing a long-promised park for the Southeast Side community.
Why It Matters
The Southeast Side is already designated an environmental justice community, burdened with more than its share of pollution and hazardous sites. Since the 1980s, the Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) has stored one million tons of toxic dredged waste from the Calumet River and Cal-Sag Channel—right along the shoreline of Lake Michigan and next to Calumet Park and Steelworkers Park.
From the beginning, state law required that once the landfill was full, the site would be transferred to the Chicago Park District for public use as a park. Instead, the CDF has remained in operation for decades. In 2020, the Army Corps proposed expanding the site vertically by up to 25 feet and adding potentially another one million tons of toxic waste on our lakefront, further delaying promised parkland and increasing risks for nearby residents.
Community Action and Legal Victory
In 2023, FOTP and ASE, represented by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, filed suit to stop the expansion. In January 2025, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that the Corps’ proposal violated Illinois law banning the construction or expansion of landfills in Cook County. Check out some of FOTP and our partners’ media hits for this win: CBS Channel 2, WTTW website, NBC Channel 5.
It’s a “tremendous victory for all Chicagoans who care about protecting Lake Michigan,” and should signal the end of a plan that “was legally flawed and contrary to common sense,” said Howard Learner, lead attorney for the Alliance of the Southeast and Friends of the Parks.
What’s Next
Stopping the expansion is only the first step. Now, we must ensure the CDF is closed for good, the land is restored, and the long-promised park becomes a reality. Parks should be places of recreation, nature, and health—not toxic waste.
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