March Partner Spotlight: P.E.R.R.O
In case you missed it—last month’s partner highlight in our newsletter was dedicated to Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (P.E.R.R.O). P.E.R.R.O has advocated tirelessly for environmental justice in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, winning major victories against large industrial giants and building a better future for all.
The Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (P.E.R.R.O) has advocated for environmental justice in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood and surrounding communities since 2004. They envision a future for their community that thrives with clean, healthy places to live, work, and raise children.
Pilsen is a vibrant, historically Mexican community in Chicago’s Lower West side known for its public murals, mosaics, rich culture, and long tradition of labor organizing. It’s also located in one of the city’s industrial corridors and has been a hotbed of community action to remediate the impacts of pollution from industrial sites in the neighborhood. PERRO is part of this lineage, organizing for environmental health through a just transition framework that seeks to achieve waste cleanup without causing industrial jobs or businesses to be lost.
The Pilsen neighborhood has a long history as an industrial hub due to its proximity to rail lines, highways, and the Sanitary and Ship Canal, which has provided crucial water transportation for the industry. This accessibility played a key role in Chicago’s industrial growth, attracting numerous factories and facilities to the area. However, this industrial legacy has resulted in significant environmental impacts, including degraded water quality in the Chicago River, elevated lead levels in Pilsen’s soil, air pollution from sources such as the former coal power plant, and more recently, the expansion of warehouses and increased diesel truck traffic.
As an entirely volunteer-powered organization, P.E.R.R.O has led an incredible number of successful campaigns to hold polluter giants in the neighborhood accountable. Their recent wins have included shutting down the Fisk and Crawford coal-powered plants, mitigating lead emissions from H. Kramer & Co., and beginning soil remediation at the lead-contaminated Loewenthanal Metals site–and that’s just the beginning of the list.
In the long term, P.E.R.R.O envisions a Pilsen community in harmony with air, water, land, and the living world; having democratic and economic power; equitable access to housing, food, green, natural, non-intrusive spaces, and meaningful employment.
“ “I have long appreciated PERRO’s role as a ‘watchdog organization’ in my community for over 20 years. As a kid attending school next to the Fisk Coal Plant, I watched them advocate for its shutdown and saw the EPA install a lead monitor at my elementary school. Now, I am working alongside them as we continue to fight for a healthier Pilsen.”
“Agradezco a la organización ambientalista PERRO por vigilar a mi comunidad contra la contaminación durante más de 20 años. Cuando era una niña asistía a la escuela junto a la Planta de Carbón Fisk, los vi abogar por su cierre y vi a la EPA instalar un monitor de plomo en mi escuela primaria. Ahora, estoy luchando con ellos por una comunidad más saludable.””