Wilfred Dowdell points to the railroad ties stacked up on top of a viaduct near his home on West 16th Street just west of South Kilbourn Avenue.
It’s a source of smell so strong, he says, he can’t stand outside on his front porch. Though he can’t see it, some of those old rail ties are being chopped and grounded up just yards away from his house.
“It stays in the air for a real long time,” says Dowdell, who’s retired and has lived in his North Lawndale home since 2017.
He describes the odor as a burning smell. Others describe it as a chemical smell or an oily odor. Over the last two centuries, rail ties have been treated with the chemical creosote, which protects the wood and acts as a pesticide. The chemical is pungent and also blamed for respiratory issues. It has been linked in studies to some types of cancer.
Contacted by the Sun-Times, Steve Berglund, chief executive of the suburban Hampshire company TiEnergy, says he’ll talk directly to neighbors affected and promises to figure out a solution for the air quality issues.
“I just want to fix the problem,” Berglund says. “I’ll do anything in my power.”
He repeated his pledge several times in an interview.
What has frustrated residents and business owners in recent months is that they don’t know where to go to lodge complaints about the smell.
Dowdell called Ald. Monique Scott’s (24th) office and was told the grinding operation was being done in Cicero. So he called the Cicero Fire Department but got no answers there.
A Cicero spokesman said the suburb has not received complaints from its own residents or businesses.
The town also has no jurisdiction over the activities on the railroad’s land, says Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania.
Brian Monaghan, who runs his business Central Sculpture Works at 1804 S. Kilbourn Ave., also called Scott’s office to complain in January. A city environmental inspector came out the next day but Monaghan says he didn’t hear back from her.
Scott says the city inspector determined that the grinding operation was in Cicero. She says she alerted Cook County officials.
Monaghan says he’s talked to other business owners in the Roosevelt / Cicero Industrial Corridor about the dust and smells. The corridor runs along the land and tracks owned by the Belt Railway Company of Chicago, which leases land to TiEnergy to grind and dispose of the railroad ties.
Other businesses have complained about the rail-tie operation, according to Bernard Jenning, who heads the Lawndale Business Renaissance Association.
He hopes that the matter can be resolved between Berglund of TiEnergy and the neighboring businesses.
Berglund says he talked to a city official about addressing the issue and is “disappointed this has gotten out of control.”
Other agencies looking into the matter include Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Cook County environmental officials.
While government bodies have been wrestling in recent weeks over jurisdiction questions, these matters are sometimes tricky when property has been in the control of railroads for more than a century.
The work is being done on railroad land. There is no environmental permit required, according to Berglund.
Aerial photos taken by the Sun-Times show extensive stacks of railroad ties and also piles of shredded materials that stretch for blocks.
About 20 million railroad ties are replaced every year, according to Berglund.
The material is recycled for construction aggregate or other uses, he says.
Berglund says the operation has been going on for about three years and said activity increased over the past year or so. He says he’s surprised about the recent complaints.
The Belt Railway Company of Chicago is known as intermediate switching terminal railroad or “shortline railroad.”
Belt Railway is owned by the six major railroad companies in the United States: BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.
In a statement, the company said it expects any business operating on its land should adhere to government requirements.
“The Belt Railway Company of Chicago requires that all lessees comply with local, state and federal laws and regulations,” the company says in a statement. “This includes obtaining the proper permits for their business operations. Any lessee that runs afoul of regulations or does not comply with required permitting processes risks termination of their lease.”
