Illinois Officials Worry About Foxconn Environmental Impact

MOUNT PLEASANT, WI — Officials in Illinois are raising concerns that the $10 billion Foxconn electronics plant development in Racine County is going to mean major environmental problems for suburban Chicago communities.

That's because part of the Foxconn develoment is located in the Des Plaines River watershed, which means that whatever developments take place on the Foxconn campus could mean big implications hundreds of miles downriver in Illinois.

The Beechwood Reporter recently reported that Illinois officialshave serious concers about the impact of Foxconn potentially filling in 26 acres of wetlands throughout its construction site. The project currently plans to fill in 13.7 acres of wetlands in the Des Plaines River watershed.

The Des Plaines River begins in Racine County, and flows south through Kenosha, then 133 more miles through Suburban Chicago until it flows into the Kankakee River to form the Illinois River, which ultimately leads to the Mississippi River.

According to the Beechwood Reporter, officials in Lake County have raised concerns that the Foxconn development will mean more flooding downstream for their communities. "If you fill in 26 acres of wetlands, there is going to be a downstream impact," said Aaron Lawlor, chair of the Lake County Board.

And because of language written into the 2017 Foxconn bill in Wisconsin, Foxconn can fill in these wetlands withouth giving state officials and the public a chance to review an environmental impact statement.

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