Lake Calumet is located east of the Bishop Ford Freeway (Interstate 94) between 103rd and 130th streets on the Far Southeast Side of Chicago.

[2] The Chicago neighborhood of Pullman was developed as a company town with residences and services offered for rent to the workers in railroad passenger car factories.

[1] Another parcel of former wetland, south of the lake, was designated as what is now the Paxton Landfill, the final home for much of the household and industrial solid waste generated within the city of Chicago.

The revelation of hazardous chemicals in much of the fill material has created a push to have parts of the Lake Calumet area added to the national Superfund list for environmental cleanup.

The lake is home to multiple industrial tenants, the largest being Kinder Morgan, an energy intrastructure company specializing in the transport of oil and natural gas.

[4] The wetlands surrounding Lake Calumet were noted as the only location where specimens of Thismia americana, an example of endemic wet prairie flora, were ever collected.

[7] Despite these challenges, planners hope to conduct remedial cleanups of less-severely contaminated sites to permit adaptive reuse.