Chicago paused construction of a migrant tent camp in Brighton Park on Monday after an environmental report found high levels of mercury and other dangerous contaminants on the vacant lot.

"The State has temporarily paused construction at the Brighton Park site pending IEPA's review of the environmental report. IEPA has some outstanding questions they are hopeful they can work through today," Gov. J.B. Pritzker's (D-IL) spokeswoman, Jordan Abudayyeh, told CBS in an email.

VENEZUELA VOTES TO CLAIM REGION IN OIL-RICH GUYANA, RAISING FEARS OF CONFLICT

Last week, workers were slated to lay down materials and take measurements for the construction process. Chicago signed a land use contract with the owners of a vacant lot in Southwest Side's Brighton Park neighborhood to build the first migrant tents in the city last month, but protesters and environmental concerns have delayed the construction process.

"According to the report, soil with mercury levels was identified at one location and was removed and properly disposed of off-site at a landfill. Likewise, soil with a high level of a semivolatile compound was identified at another location, and will be removed and disposed of off-site," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's office said in a statement on Monday, according to NBC Chicago. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The mayor's office said that to address the contaminated soil, the city's Assets, Information, and Services "directed the placement of crushed clean stone with a minimum thickness of 6' as an engineered barrier across the site. The engineered barrier will be periodically inspected to ensure that the minimum thickness is maintained."

More than 1,000 immigrants are living in police stations across the city and at O'Hare International Airport, with over 13,000 immigrants living in the city's 26 active shelters as of this week. Since August 2022, over 20,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago, largely from Gov. Greg Abbott's (R-TX) migrant busing program, according to city data.