Mayor Rahm Emanuel released the following statement after state and federal officials notified the City of Chicago’s Department of Water Management (DWM) that U.S. Steel Corporation released hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) into Burns Waterway, a Lake Michigan tributary, located near their facility in Portage, Indiana on Tuesday, April 11.

"The fact that these dangerous chemicals have not reached Chicago's water supply is simply due to good luck, and not good actions by U.S. Steel. We cannot and will not tolerate careless conduct by companies that could threaten the health and safety of our residents,” said Mayor Emanuel. “U.S. Steel must immediately explain how they allowed a dangerous chemical into a Lake Michigan tributary where it could harm millions of people in Indiana and Illinois, and what they are doing to ensure this never happens again. At the same time, this incident is a warning to us all that if the Trump administration's plan to cripple the EPA is enacted, there will be no one left to protect residents from bad actors like U.S. Steel."

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