Christiana Freitag

Christiana Freitag is an environment reporting intern and former freelancer at the Tribune. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University, where she focused on health, environment, and science reporting and data journalism. Her work has appeared in Inside Climate News, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and PBS.

The boiler from the 1914 shipwrecked Silver Spray remains just offshore near 49th Street, as seen on March 12, 2026, in the Morgan Shoal, the ancient shallow bedrock in Lake Michigan. The Army Corps of Engineers is planning new breakwaters and revetments for the area between 47th and 51st streets on the south lakefront. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

A push to protect Morgan Shoal — a marine wonder on the South Side — and the Chicago shoreline

March 22, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Hyde Park residents and advocates fear an Army Corps erosion plan to protect the lakefront could harm the rare natural refuge in Hyde Park.

The Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet on Feb. 1, 2021. A funding pause has halted progress on the long-planned improvements at the lock and dam, a chokepoint at the Des Plaines River designed to block invasive species from reaching the Great Lakes. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)

Trump vows to fight invasive carp in Great Lakes, but Illinois federal funds remain frozen

March 19, 2026 at 1:43 p.m.

State leaders call on the federal government to release money to begin the Brandon Road project, a critical barrier system near Joliet.

Donna Miller walks into her election night event as the Democratic nominee for the 2nd Congressional District on March 17, 2026, in Chicago Heights. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller wins Illinois’ 2nd District over comeback effort by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

March 18, 2026 at 4:42 p.m.

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller won the Democratic primary in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District Tuesday as voters rejected a comeback effort by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

The Lincoln Stone Quarry, where coal ash was dumped for decades, near the Des Plaines River on March 11, 2026, in Joliet. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois EPA rejects coal ash cleanup plan in Joliet, a ‘heartening’ win for environmentalists

March 13, 2026 at 12:05 p.m.

The plan failed to address excess groundwater contamination and did not demonstrate that sufficient funds were available, the IEPA said.

Chris Minto, center left, and Elena Jimenez, center right, dance with hundreds of attendees in a cleared-out food court area during a Late Night Madness pop-up music and food event at Seafood City Supermarket in Chicago on March 6, 2026. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago’s hottest club is … Seafood City? Viral pop-up dance party comes to the Filipino grocery store

March 9, 2026 at 2:25 p.m.

Seafood City usually closes at 9 p.m. But this weekend, the market stayed open all night long as DJs and party hosts transformed it into a late-night dance party.

Michael Crawford, the Collinsville water plant's chief operator, inspects a clarifier tank at the facility on Feb. 11, 2026. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois orders 21 communities to remove forever chemicals from drinking water by 2029. But who will pay?

March 8, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Many towns cannot afford the millions of dollars needed to upgrade their water systems. That means ratepayers could end up footing the bill.

Jazmen Sisson, a bridge program graduate, center, is hugged by Tanyatta Peterson after receiving her diploma during the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act graduation ceremony at College of Lake County in Waukegan on Feb. 27, 2026. (Talia Sprague/for the Chicago Tribune)

Graduates of Illinois clean energy workforce program gain a vision — and skills for the future

March 6, 2026 at 1:50 p.m.

Hundreds of residents in environmental justice communities like Waukegan are being trained for careers in solar, EVs and energy efficiency.

Carly Schroeder stands outside the Schahfer Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, and next to the site of a planned data center near her family farm, Feb. 9, 2026, in Wheatfield, Indiana. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

As Indiana extends coal and builds data centers, Illinois may be on the hook for neighbor’s AI boom

March 1, 2026 at 5:06 p.m.

Postponing the closure of the Schahfer coal plant also means continued exposure to toxic emissions and leaks for nearby communities like Wheatfield.

Paul Botts, president and executive director of the Wetland Initiative, walks across the ice on Feb. 2, 2026, at Indian Ridge Marsh Park on Chicago’s Far South Side. The wetlands, frozen in the winter, have been restored in recent years from past industrial use and are open to the public via walking trails. Indian Ridge Marsh is public land so it is not at risk of being developed. But it is the kind of wetland that is no longer protected by federal regulations. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois Rewilding Law, first in US, a step toward state wetland protection

February 4, 2026 at 5:53 p.m.

Officials and environmentalists, pushing for state regulation of wetlands, say law will help close federal gaps after Trump rollbacks.

Christianah Akinsanmi, left, along with Southeast Side residents and supporters, gather near the Quantum Shore Chicago construction site, Jan. 28, 2026, to demand a referendum question about the campus be added back onto the March primary ballot despite being rejected by the Board of Elections. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

South Side residents protest rejection of Quantum Shore nonbinding referendum

January 28, 2026 at 4:39 p.m.

Board of Elections says it rejected the Quantum Shore question because it contained too many propositions.

All Stories