Is It Safe to Grow Food in Cook County?
Federal record: HighWe checked the federal record around Cook County — 15,546 documented sites across 7 of the 8 site registers we track, 234 of them high-severity.
The most significant on record: 220 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Cook County carries one of the heavier federal records we track — 15,546 documented sites, most of them underground storage tanks. That's a record of the area's history, not a verdict on any one yard: proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis. Before food beds go in, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with — and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Documented sites nearest the Cook County center
- 700 W. Erie — Underground Storage Tanks · ~0.1 km from the county center
- Chicago Tribune Co — Brownfields · ~0.1 km from the county center
- Watersaver Faucet Co — Toxics Release Inventory · ~0.1 km from the county center
These are the closest documented sites to Cook County's geographic center — a screening reference, not a reading on any specific address. Check your own Illinois parcel to see what's actually near you.
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See exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
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