Looking out her window early Saturday afternoon, Michele Berman noticed something that looked like black-mesh netting across the river, partially blocking demolition of the former Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center.
Within a couple of hours, she said, a wall collapsed, sinking the netting into the Chicago River while debris and a sizable amount of white substance dumped into the water.
“My daughter looked at [the netting] and said, “What is that going to hold?’ Literally, two hours later it all dumped into the river,” Berman said.
The material formed a large “white cloud” that floated up the river, Berman said. “It looked like packing peanuts, but I don’t know what it is.”
On Wednesday, the material was seen farther north on the river.
The former Tribune property is being torn down to make way for Bally’s Chicago Casino. Since the weekend accident, the demolition has been on hold.
State and local officials are still investigating the matter.
Bally’s and its contractor, Chicago Community Builders Collective, said in a statement that the white material was perlite, used in building insulation, and that it was not toxic.
The Metropolitan Water and Reclamation District, which is responsible for the Chicago area’s sewer system and protection of the river, continues to investigate the incident to determine if there are any violations.
City of Chicago officials have also been on the scene as well as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Michael Goldwater, who lives nearby and is a member of a River North neighbors’ group, said he was alarmed by the incident.
“My concern is that I want to make sure they understand how this happened, how to remediate and, more importantly, how to prevent it from happening again,” Goldwater said.
For Berman, she wants to know what fell in the river and whether steps are being taken to make sure there are no other accidents.
Before demolition began, Berman said she attended a community meeting because the Freedom Center teardown is considered an “environmentally complex” demolition.
“They all assured us they were keeping their eyes on it,” Berman said, referring to city officials.
Contributing: Mitchell Armentrout