CHICAGO, Illinois, November 11, 2008 (ENS) – To keep expired and unused prescription drugs out of the Chicago water supply, city, state and federal governments are cooperating to provide a new permanent, convenient way for people to discard them without flushing them down the drain.

Drop boxes are now located at five Chicago Police Department Area Centers. From there, the pharmaceuticals will be packaged and sent to a state-authorized incinerator for destruction. The collection of the pharmaceuticals is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the disposal is funded by Illinois EPA.

“Many people may not be aware that improperly disposing of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, such as flushing them down the toilet, contributes to pharmaceuticals found in our waterways,” said Mayor Richard Daley, announcing the new drop boxes on November 1.

Unwanted medications can contaminate drinking
water. (Photo courtesy NOAA)

“Residents who have expired and unused pharmaceuticals are encouraged to use these drop boxes at police headquarters, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said.

The mayor says Chicago’s drinking water is safe and meets or exceeds all standards of safety as established by the U.S. EPA and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

A water sampling project conducted in March by the Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA identified 16 pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the untreated or drinking water of five public water supplies in Illinois, including Chicago.

The chemicals range from caffeine, nicotine, aspirin and the insect repellent DEET to prescription drugs such as the antibiotic penicillin, the anti-convulsant Dilantin and the thyroid hormone replacement Levothyroxine.

But a comparison of the sampling results with conservative screening levels developed by the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Department of Public Health showed the levels found in water supplies “do not present a public health hazard at this time,” the report states.

Still, the majority of trace pharmaceuticals found in the city’s waterways are the result of human and livestock excretion.

Improperly disposing of prescription or over-the-counter drugs can contribute to pharmaceuticals found in the city’s water. Proper management and disposal has been found to lessen the impact of prescription drugs on the water system.

This year the city has been able to keep just over one ton of prescription drugs out of the waste stream as a result of four neighborhood drop-off events in addition to the permanent drop-off site at the Household Chemicals and Computer Recycling Facility located at Goose Island.

“While research is continuing the impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on people and aquatic life, we know that we need to take action now to prevent them from getting into our waterways and lakes, and into our drinking water,” said Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott.

Expired and unused pharmaceuticals can be disposed of in drop boxes at the five Chicago Police Department Area Centers. By using the police facilities as a drop-off location, the controlled substances will be deposited safely and kept under observation by law enforcement until they are destroyed, the mayor said. The centers are located at:

* Area 1 – 5101 S. Wentworth Ave.
* Area 2 – 727 E. 111th St.
* Area 3 – 2452 W. Belmont Ave.
* Area 4 – 3151 W. Harrison St.
* Area 5 – 5555 W. Grand Ave.

After the pharmaceuticals are put in the drop box, they will be removed and taken to the Goose Island facility for packaging, then transported by the Illinois EPA to a disposal facility for incineration.

The disposal facility is permitted to handle these materials and contains state-of-the-art technology for controlling the air emissions generated from the incineration.

“Properly disposing of unwanted medicines helps protect our Great Lakes by keeping these contaminants out of waterways such as Lake Michigan,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lynn Buhl. “EPA was pleased to fund this safe and convenient way for the public to get rid of their old and unwanted meds.”

“Chemicals from medicines flushed down the toilet can pass untreated through sewage plants, damage septic systems, and contaminate nearby waterways,” said Beth Hinchey Malloy, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Great Lakes ecosystem specialist. “Medicines thrown in the trash can be scavenged or they have the potential to contaminate landfill leachate.”

“Some pharmacies will take back some unwanted medications, and some communities have one-day collection events, but there is no long-term solution to this growing and potentially dangerous wastestream,” said Susan Boehme, IISG coastal sediment specialist. “We field calls every week from community leaders, state officials, pharmacists, doctors, solid waste managers or environmental activists looking for information, support, and solutions.”

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CHICAGO, Illinois, September 19, 2008 (ENS) – Mayor Richard Daley has set Chicago on a cooler path by outlining strategies to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and avert climate change.

The Chicago Climate Action Plan introduced Thursday would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent of 1990 levels by 2020 by retrofitting commercial and industrial buildings, making residences more energy efficiency, using clean and renewable sources of electricity, improving transportation, and reducing industrial pollution.

In a news conference at the Shedd Aquarium, the mayor said that accomplishing this goal will require an enormous amount of hard work and cooperation and the commitment not only of government but also of every individual, business and institution in the city.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (Photo
credit unknown)

“We have a shared responsibility to protect our planet,” Daley said. “We can’t solve the world’s climate change problem in Chicago, but we can do our part.”

Officials say the Chicago metropolitan area, including the six surrounding counties, emits 103 million metric tons of greenhouse gases a year. The city of Chicago along emits 34.6 metric tons per year.

The Task Force that wrote the plan said Chicago needs to achieve an 80 percent reduction below its 1990 greenhouse gas emissions level by the year 2050 in order to do its part to avoid the worst global impacts of climate change.

To achieve this 80 percent reduction, the Task Force proposed an initial goal of a 25 percent cut in emissions below 1990 levels by 2020, a target that the mayor says is far enough in the future to allow time for major infrastructure and behaviorial changes, but soon enough to ensure the city is on the right course.

“Some of things we need to do, such as investing in transportation infrastructure, require the involvement of the state and federal government,” Daley said. “But other important steps are much simpler and within the reach of each individual. These are things such as driving less and walking more, using energy-efficient light bulbs or turning down the thermostat a few degrees in the winter.”

When he first took office in April 1989, the mayor said “climate change wasn’t on the radar for most cities, states and nations around the world, or even for most people.”

“But I believed then and believe even more deeply today that when you do such things as planting trees and creating open space, when you invest resources to remove pollution from the air and encourage the construction of buildings that are smart for the environment, then you enhance quality of life for all the residents of the city,” Daley said.

Buildings emit 70 percent of all Chicago’s greenhouse gas emissions and are the primary target of the Climate Action Plan.

An energy-saving green roof tops Chicago
City Hall. (Photo credit unknown)

Chicago City Hall is topped with a green roof, and the plan would increase rooftop gardens to a total of 6,000 buildings citywide and plant an estimated one million trees.

Between now and 2020, the plan calls for retrofit 50 percent of commercial and industrial building stock, resulting in a 30 percent energy reduction.

All building renovations would be required to meet green standards, and water use efficiency in buildings would be upgraded as part of the retrofits.

The energy efficiency of 50 percent of residential buildings would be improved to achieve a 30 percent reduction in energy used, and appliance trade-in and lightbulb replacement programs would be expanded.

Chicago’s Energy Conservation Code would be aligned with the latest international standards.

Daley said the city will move forward with right away with the Green Office Challenge that will spur high rise office buildings to save energy, increase recycling and water efficiency and reduce paper.

Other steps proposed in the plan and that the city is considering include large scale solar energy installations at city facilities and the construction of four publicly accessible alternative fueling stations.

The city is drafting a communications and outreach plan to engage all residents and businesses in the Chicago Climate Action Plan.

The city has launched a new website [www.chicagoclimateaction.org] where Chicagoans and businesses can learn about climate change, what they can do in their daily lives to reduce emissions, and what the city is doing to protect the climate.

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CHICAGO, Illinois, January 29, 2008 (ENS) – Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games makes the environment an integral part of its proposal. Mayor Richard Daley said, “Our plan involves the entire city, focuses on athletes and leaves a lasting legacy for our young people through sport, culture, education and the environment.”

“We are looking forward to the international process to showcase the spirit, energy and commitment that Chicago can offer to further strengthen the Olympic Movement here in the United States and around the world,” the mayor said.

The first step was using 100 percent soy ink on Neenah’s Environment 100 percent post-consumer recycled fiber to print Chicago’s Application File, called a mini-bid book or questionnaire, which was handed to the International Olympic Committee, IOC, on January 14.

The carbon emissions associated with printing and distribution of the mini-bid were offset with carbon credits purchased on the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, known as Chicago 2016, donated 100 copies of the mini-bid book to Chicago Public Libraries where they were released for public viewing on Monday.

Doug Arnot, senior vice president of Venues and Games Operations for Chicago 2016, said, “With the worldwide need for environmental preservation, Chicago 2016 has made building a green Games an essential priority.”

“Mayor Daley has worked to improve the sustainability of our city over the past two decades, and now the questionnaire, which was printed using an entirely green process as a symbolic gesture, demonstrates to the IOC the steps we are willing to take to ensure an environmentally friendly games,” said Arnot.

Chicago is competing with six other cities for the 2016 Summer Games – Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan.

The winner will be announced on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Chicago turns on the lights for
its bid for the 2016 Olympic
Summer Games. (Photo courtesy
2016 Chicago)

Chicago 2016’s Olympic Village design takes advantage of Chicago’s lakefront park system and centers the athletes in the heart of the city. The Olympic Village would be surrounded by 19 sports venues, and 91 percent of the athletes will be within 15 minutes of their competition venues. Only five permanent competition venues have to be built.

In its mini-bid, Chicago 2016 emphasizes that Chicago’s air quality exceeds all but one of the U.S. national standards and full compliance is anticipated before 2016. The city’s water quality exceeds all U.S. standards.

The application showcases Chicago’s commitment to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases in line with the Kyoto Protocol, which requires a cut of 5.2 percent in a basket of six gases relative to 1990 levels.

Mayor Daley has championed a variety of green initiatives and the mini-bid lists them – the development of Millennium Park, built on a deck over railroad tracks; brownfield remediation; the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rated Center for Green Technology; a Green Business Strategy and Green Construction Permit Program; a green roof effort, with more than 300 gardens and green roofs constructed to date in the city, covering 37.2 hectares on public and private buildings; a major tree planting program, with 500,000 new trees to date; and the reclamation and conversion of the downtown airport into Northerly Island Park, now a planned Olympic venue site and nature preserve.

And Mayor Daley recently appointed a chief environmental officer, Sadhu Johnston, the first cabinet-level environmental officer in a U.S. city, to oversee Chicago’s sustainability programs, the mini-bid emphasizes.

In its application, Chicago 2016 pledges to extend the city’s ongoing policies and programs, adopt best practices from current Olympic Games, consult with nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholders and integrate the principles of the IOC’s Agenda 21 into a “state-of-the-art environmental management system.”

Chicago 2016 has committed to staging a carbon neutral Olympic Games that will serve as a catalyst for long-term environmental legacies, such as the introduction of new sustainable technologies and programs to promote mass transit.

To read the Chicago 2016 mini-bid book online, see http://208.96.205.108/Chicago_2016_Applicant_File.pdf.

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