Post by JB on Apr 10, 2008 3:53:31 GMT -6
District 204 fires back at NSFOC
Superintendant says there's nothing secret about reports
April 10, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
There was nothing secret about the e-mail message Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to residents Wednesday afternoon.
And there's nothing secret about the Metea Valley High School environmental study results released Monday, the district says.
"Most recently, and as many of you are aware, a small, passionate group of district residents decided to pursue legal action against Indian Prairie to try to force the district to build Metea Valley on the Brach-Brodie land," Daeschner said in the message. "I call this group small because by their own account they number 200 to 300 members and our district has approximately 18,300 families and 55,000 homes. Because the papers have been filed by lawyers and out of a general reluctance to fan the flames of a media debate, I have been reluctant to share my commentary on the matter. Until now."
That group he referenced is known as Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, and Daeschner says part of their "campaign against the district is a very vocal attempt to spread misinformation."
While not directly referenced in Daeschner's message, district officials asserted Wednesday that NSFOC's claim that seven reports were being withheld were just that - misinformation.
Seven reports were referenced but not included, but there's no sinister reason for their absence, said Todd DePaul, District 204's construction manager for Metea. They were not included, he said, because they didn't belong to District 204 or Testing Service Corporation, the company commissioned to conduct the environmental site assessments.
Those reports belonged to Midwest Generation, which could allow only TSC to review and summarize them.
"They were summarized in the Phase I (study), and anything that was found in them was taken into consideration in (TSC's) recommendations for the Phase II (study)," DePaul said.
The 1999 sale
Three of the seven reports were part of Midwest Generation's due diligence effort related to its purchase of the property from Commonwealth Edison in 1999, DePaul said. They're Midwest Generation's own Phase I and Phase II studies of the property and the source of the information District 204 collected on the four spills that predated Midwest Generation's ownership.
Brian Walker, a TSC section manager, explained this documentation during his Monday presentation to the board:
• Approximately 100 gallons of fuel were released in 1993. The impacted gravel from the release was excavated and sent to a landfill.
• About 600 gallons of lubricating oil leaked from one of the peaker units in February 1994 that impacted an area about 2,500 square feet.
• Approximately 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed a sump in June 1994.
• A release was recorded of about 100 gallons of diesel and mineral oil in 1996.
However, while TSC's latest tests found no contamination of groundwater, Midwest Generation's Phase II study report from 1999 indicated that earlier groundwater testing detected lead, chromium and arsenic at what NSFOC attorney Shawn Collins has called "unacceptable levels."
The 2002 spill
Three of the other reports are related to Midwest Generation's 10,500-gallon spill of diesel fuel in 2002, DePaul said. They are the original incident report and two subsequent progress reports regarding the company's two remediation efforts.
Of the 10,500 gallons of diesel spilled, Midwest Generation recovered 8,000 gallons, Walker said. Walker said Midwest Generation worked with Heritage Environmental to clean up the rest. On two occasions, the companies sprayed a bioremediation agent over the impacted areas.
After the first spray, tests of the impacted land found chemicals in a range of 173 to 1,300 parts-per-million, Walker said. Tests after the second spray found these chemicals in a range of 19 to 257 parts-per-million.
The 2004 closure
DePaul said the final report is an inventory of what remained on the land after the peaker plant shut down in the fall of 2004.
"So the fact that (Midwest Generation) can't release the reports is really of no consequence," said District 204 board President Mark Metzger.
But Collins doesn't care that these reports were "allegedly" summarized.
"That these reports remain a secret concerning property to be purchased with public funds and at which thousands of children will spend many hours each day is totally unacceptable," he said.
A Midwest Generation spokesman did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Superintendant says there's nothing secret about reports
April 10, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
There was nothing secret about the e-mail message Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to residents Wednesday afternoon.
And there's nothing secret about the Metea Valley High School environmental study results released Monday, the district says.
"Most recently, and as many of you are aware, a small, passionate group of district residents decided to pursue legal action against Indian Prairie to try to force the district to build Metea Valley on the Brach-Brodie land," Daeschner said in the message. "I call this group small because by their own account they number 200 to 300 members and our district has approximately 18,300 families and 55,000 homes. Because the papers have been filed by lawyers and out of a general reluctance to fan the flames of a media debate, I have been reluctant to share my commentary on the matter. Until now."
That group he referenced is known as Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, and Daeschner says part of their "campaign against the district is a very vocal attempt to spread misinformation."
While not directly referenced in Daeschner's message, district officials asserted Wednesday that NSFOC's claim that seven reports were being withheld were just that - misinformation.
Seven reports were referenced but not included, but there's no sinister reason for their absence, said Todd DePaul, District 204's construction manager for Metea. They were not included, he said, because they didn't belong to District 204 or Testing Service Corporation, the company commissioned to conduct the environmental site assessments.
Those reports belonged to Midwest Generation, which could allow only TSC to review and summarize them.
"They were summarized in the Phase I (study), and anything that was found in them was taken into consideration in (TSC's) recommendations for the Phase II (study)," DePaul said.
The 1999 sale
Three of the seven reports were part of Midwest Generation's due diligence effort related to its purchase of the property from Commonwealth Edison in 1999, DePaul said. They're Midwest Generation's own Phase I and Phase II studies of the property and the source of the information District 204 collected on the four spills that predated Midwest Generation's ownership.
Brian Walker, a TSC section manager, explained this documentation during his Monday presentation to the board:
• Approximately 100 gallons of fuel were released in 1993. The impacted gravel from the release was excavated and sent to a landfill.
• About 600 gallons of lubricating oil leaked from one of the peaker units in February 1994 that impacted an area about 2,500 square feet.
• Approximately 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed a sump in June 1994.
• A release was recorded of about 100 gallons of diesel and mineral oil in 1996.
However, while TSC's latest tests found no contamination of groundwater, Midwest Generation's Phase II study report from 1999 indicated that earlier groundwater testing detected lead, chromium and arsenic at what NSFOC attorney Shawn Collins has called "unacceptable levels."
The 2002 spill
Three of the other reports are related to Midwest Generation's 10,500-gallon spill of diesel fuel in 2002, DePaul said. They are the original incident report and two subsequent progress reports regarding the company's two remediation efforts.
Of the 10,500 gallons of diesel spilled, Midwest Generation recovered 8,000 gallons, Walker said. Walker said Midwest Generation worked with Heritage Environmental to clean up the rest. On two occasions, the companies sprayed a bioremediation agent over the impacted areas.
After the first spray, tests of the impacted land found chemicals in a range of 173 to 1,300 parts-per-million, Walker said. Tests after the second spray found these chemicals in a range of 19 to 257 parts-per-million.
The 2004 closure
DePaul said the final report is an inventory of what remained on the land after the peaker plant shut down in the fall of 2004.
"So the fact that (Midwest Generation) can't release the reports is really of no consequence," said District 204 board President Mark Metzger.
But Collins doesn't care that these reports were "allegedly" summarized.
"That these reports remain a secret concerning property to be purchased with public funds and at which thousands of children will spend many hours each day is totally unacceptable," he said.
A Midwest Generation spokesman did not return phone calls seeking comment.
