What to do if you see pollution
Report environmental complaints to the city, state, and national agencies. Ensure your report includes what happened, where it occurred, and when it happened.
City of Chicago
Call 311 City of Chicago and tell them you have an environmental violation to report. A Chicago Department of Public Health inspector should come out for noise, odor, air emissions, toxic material, or dumping complaints.
You can also submit a service request online or download the CHI311 Mobile App.
Your Ward and Alderman
You can call your local Alderman’s office and report an incident.
The 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez can be contacted by phone at 773 523-4100, by email at ward25@cityofchicago.org, or by a visit at 2100 W Cermak Rd Chicago, IL 6068.
For more information, visit the 25th Ward website here.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Illinois
For emergency complaints, you can contact the Illinois Emergency Management Agency at 800-782-7860.
Electronic citizen’s complaint forms are available here.
United States
You can contact the US EPA Region 5 office at 312-353-2000.
For online reporting of environmental violations, fill out a form here
For an emergency that is life or environmentally threatening, report it to the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.
It is very helpful to provide video or photos of possible violations if possible. The EPA also requests that a log of dates, times, and observations be kept if the issue is continuous.