2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy

Economic Equity via Community-Led Redevelopment in Little Village, a Chicago Prize Finalist Project

Through a robust partnership between the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and Delta Institute, our initiative will create a new community hub, called the Centro de Solidaridad Mi Villita, to provide 100,000+ Chicagoans with the means to create a robust local economy based on solidarity and equity. This project was a Finalist for the first Chicago Prize, the $10M award competition held in 2020 by the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. Although we did not win the competition, we remain committed to a sustainable future for Little Village.

Reimagining the Shenango Coke Plant Site outside Pittsburgh, PA

Delta Institute has worked with numerous communities who are faced with a closed--or closing--coal power plant. These sites have unique needs for redevelopment, ranging from environmental remediation to replacement of lost tax revenue and jobs. Delta facilitated a coalition of community groups located outside Pittsburgh, PA to create Guiding Principles for sustainable redevelopment of the closed Shenango Coke Plant property located on Neville Island, located on the Ohio River.

Phytoremediating Vacant Industrial Land in Gary, Indiana

With our partners, Delta Institute is planting hybrid poplar trees on the former Bear Brand Hosiery Plant, a five-acre brownfield site with petroleum contamination that lies within the Grand Calumet Area of Concern in Gary, Indiana. The hybrid poplars are expected to grow rapidly and absorb and break-down the petroleum contamination within the soil. The planted trees will take up significant amounts of water, reducing stormwater run-off into Lake Michigan and returning this vacant industrial site to productive use.