Please help ensure a “No” vote at the June 12 River Forest ZBA hearing regarding EMSL Analytical Inc.’s request for a special-use permit to operate a lab at 7716 Madison St.
My husband and I are raising our two beautiful children in my husband’s lifelong, family home, which is 100 feet away from where EMSL plans to test asbestos, lead, mold, food and “environmental contaminants.” We are scared of the potential risks of this lab. It is in our backyard where our kids play; right outside the windows of where we lie down to sleep at night and where we cook and eat our meals.
Our research and EMSL’s presentation at a May 8 ZBA hearing intensified our concerns. But then when our neighbors spoke at the hearing (25 of them), and we gathered together after the hearing to plan what we could do next, different feelings took over: feelings of pride in our incredible community, gratitude for the wisdom and strength of neighbors who have become trusted friends, and — an unexpected benefit — a great teaching moment for ourselves and our children in what “community” really means. Our son went on to produce a story, write a script and film a news segment about this issue for Roosevelt’s sixth-grade Bulldog Bark news show.
Please consider joining us to ensure EMSL is not granted a special-use permit on our block filled with so many children. Find us on Facebook: River Forest CARE (Citizens Aligned to Reject EMSL), where you can also sign an online petition. And consider attending the June 12 continuance at River Forest Village Hall.
Susan Altier
River Forest CARE member
