Post by sushi on Mar 30, 2008 6:33:07 GMT -6
District won't postpone Metea for IEPA approval
But some say safety trumps punctuality
March 30, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Earning the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's approval should take at least six months, but officials insist dealing with that bureaucratic red tape will not delay construction on the Eola-Molitor property or jeopardize the promised August 2009 opening of Metea Valley High School.
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner has said work will need to begin soon if the district intends to open Metea on time.
"I think we need to be on land, moving dirt, by absolutely the middle of April," Daeschner told The Sun in mid-March. "We'd like to be on it sooner. We've set things up. We've got contracts in preparation for that, but if we can't do that, then we really begin to run into a little trouble."
But opponents of the district who are concerned about environmental safety issues surrounding the $16.5 million Eola site are wondering how that work can begin without the IEPA thumbs up the district promised residents.
"They don't have to deal with the Illinois EPA at all. There's no legal requirement that they do it," said attorney Shawn Collins, who is representing Neighborhood Schools for Our Children in the group's lawsuit demanding that District 204 build Metea on the 80-acre site at 75th Street and Route 59 known as the Brach-Brodie property.
"Once again," Collins continued, "we're back to the district making promises that they're going to have to back off of."
Midwest Generation owns 37 of the selected school site's 87 acres, and, until a year ago, it operated a peaker power plant on 17 of those acres in the northeast corner of the property. To allay environmental safety concerns and determine what, if any, work will need to be done to transform this portion of the site into a suitable location for a high school campus, the district commissioned a two-phase environmental study of that property. The first phase looked at historical data from the site and past property owners. The second phase looked for the presence of various kinds of chemical contamination in soil borings and ground water samplings.
The district has promised it would use these study results to work with Midwest Generation and the IEPA's voluntary site remediation program to develop a plan for cleaning up any contamination these investigations should uncover.
District 204 has had the results of these studies for three weeks now, but, in that time, has not been able to secure permission from the various parties involved in the land purchase to release the results to the public. But District 204 board President Mark Metzger has said officials have met with and asked questions of the consultants who performed the study, and the consultants advised them that "everything that was located - and it's very minimal at that - is easily and regularly remediated."
While that may be so, both the district and its opponents agree that both development and implementation of this IEPA-approved plan won't be complete before Daeschner's mid-April deadline. According to the IEPA, the property has not yet been enrolled in its voluntary site remediation program.
"They'll start out with a site investigation just identifying what the contaminants of concern might be, and what the extent is, and then they have to propose a way to clean this up - a way to remedy it," Maggie Carson, spokeswoman for the IEPA, said of work that awaits District 204. "This often is a back and forth issue, depending upon the complexity of the site, until ultimately the IEPA accepts the cleanup work that they have done."
Todd DePaul, Metea project manager, said district consultants estimate it will take about six months to earn a No Further Remediation letter from the IEPA. But Collins said it can sometimes take two years for that "clean letter" to arrive in the mail.
Whether it takes six months or two years for the IEPA to issue its approval, construction of the high school will not be delayed, DePaul said.
"Basically, the tennis courts are proposed for that portion of the property, and we're not due to start construction until April of 2009 on those tennis courts," DePaul said. "So if it takes longer than six months, then we do have some built in time ...
"The rest of the school and the parking lots and whatever are not situated on that property," he added.
In other words, District 204 would begin building Metea while it awaits word from the IEPA.
"There's nothing that precludes them from doing certain activities concurrently," Carson said.
"The intent is that the No Further Remediation letter will be for the peaker plant site, because the rest of it was farmland," DePaul said of the Eola-Molitor property. "Again, this is based on past use of the property, and wanting to reassure our residents that the site is safe."
But Collins suggested this approach means that opening the school on time is of more concern to the district than are NSFOC's environmental concerns.
"I have never understood why we are rushing to judgment with important environmental questions unresolved," he said. "The rush to open the door to something by August of 2009 is unnecessary. August of 2009 is a phony deadline. Above all else, what's important is that children go to school at a safe school site, and all deadlines should be adjusted to meet that goal."
NSFOC is also contending that contamination from the peaker plant doesn't just impact the 37 acres owned by Midwest Generation.
"They should test the entire property, because pollution doesn't just end at the property lines. It impacts the entire area," said NSFOC member Jim Walker.
Collins expressed similar sentiments.
"All 80 acres potentially have some impact on the kids that go to school there because they are all in close proximity to the school," Collins said. "In my mind, it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever to try to get a clean bill of health for part of this property and not all of it."
In its lawsuit, NSFOC notes that the peaker power plant operated from June 1970 until a year ago with "no pollution controls or pollution monitoring systems in place." Consequently, its complaint suggests 26 different kinds of chemicals the EPA associates with peaker plants could now pollute the property's soil and groundwater, and, the group fears, "permeate back up through the soil and into the school building, or expose students outside to these contaminants."
"Where do they think all of that stuff went to? I mean, heavy metals just don't go into the ground and go away," Walker said.
But some say safety trumps punctuality
March 30, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Earning the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's approval should take at least six months, but officials insist dealing with that bureaucratic red tape will not delay construction on the Eola-Molitor property or jeopardize the promised August 2009 opening of Metea Valley High School.
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner has said work will need to begin soon if the district intends to open Metea on time.
"I think we need to be on land, moving dirt, by absolutely the middle of April," Daeschner told The Sun in mid-March. "We'd like to be on it sooner. We've set things up. We've got contracts in preparation for that, but if we can't do that, then we really begin to run into a little trouble."
But opponents of the district who are concerned about environmental safety issues surrounding the $16.5 million Eola site are wondering how that work can begin without the IEPA thumbs up the district promised residents.
"They don't have to deal with the Illinois EPA at all. There's no legal requirement that they do it," said attorney Shawn Collins, who is representing Neighborhood Schools for Our Children in the group's lawsuit demanding that District 204 build Metea on the 80-acre site at 75th Street and Route 59 known as the Brach-Brodie property.
"Once again," Collins continued, "we're back to the district making promises that they're going to have to back off of."
Midwest Generation owns 37 of the selected school site's 87 acres, and, until a year ago, it operated a peaker power plant on 17 of those acres in the northeast corner of the property. To allay environmental safety concerns and determine what, if any, work will need to be done to transform this portion of the site into a suitable location for a high school campus, the district commissioned a two-phase environmental study of that property. The first phase looked at historical data from the site and past property owners. The second phase looked for the presence of various kinds of chemical contamination in soil borings and ground water samplings.
The district has promised it would use these study results to work with Midwest Generation and the IEPA's voluntary site remediation program to develop a plan for cleaning up any contamination these investigations should uncover.
District 204 has had the results of these studies for three weeks now, but, in that time, has not been able to secure permission from the various parties involved in the land purchase to release the results to the public. But District 204 board President Mark Metzger has said officials have met with and asked questions of the consultants who performed the study, and the consultants advised them that "everything that was located - and it's very minimal at that - is easily and regularly remediated."
While that may be so, both the district and its opponents agree that both development and implementation of this IEPA-approved plan won't be complete before Daeschner's mid-April deadline. According to the IEPA, the property has not yet been enrolled in its voluntary site remediation program.
"They'll start out with a site investigation just identifying what the contaminants of concern might be, and what the extent is, and then they have to propose a way to clean this up - a way to remedy it," Maggie Carson, spokeswoman for the IEPA, said of work that awaits District 204. "This often is a back and forth issue, depending upon the complexity of the site, until ultimately the IEPA accepts the cleanup work that they have done."
Todd DePaul, Metea project manager, said district consultants estimate it will take about six months to earn a No Further Remediation letter from the IEPA. But Collins said it can sometimes take two years for that "clean letter" to arrive in the mail.
Whether it takes six months or two years for the IEPA to issue its approval, construction of the high school will not be delayed, DePaul said.
"Basically, the tennis courts are proposed for that portion of the property, and we're not due to start construction until April of 2009 on those tennis courts," DePaul said. "So if it takes longer than six months, then we do have some built in time ...
"The rest of the school and the parking lots and whatever are not situated on that property," he added.
In other words, District 204 would begin building Metea while it awaits word from the IEPA.
"There's nothing that precludes them from doing certain activities concurrently," Carson said.
"The intent is that the No Further Remediation letter will be for the peaker plant site, because the rest of it was farmland," DePaul said of the Eola-Molitor property. "Again, this is based on past use of the property, and wanting to reassure our residents that the site is safe."
But Collins suggested this approach means that opening the school on time is of more concern to the district than are NSFOC's environmental concerns.
"I have never understood why we are rushing to judgment with important environmental questions unresolved," he said. "The rush to open the door to something by August of 2009 is unnecessary. August of 2009 is a phony deadline. Above all else, what's important is that children go to school at a safe school site, and all deadlines should be adjusted to meet that goal."
NSFOC is also contending that contamination from the peaker plant doesn't just impact the 37 acres owned by Midwest Generation.
"They should test the entire property, because pollution doesn't just end at the property lines. It impacts the entire area," said NSFOC member Jim Walker.
Collins expressed similar sentiments.
"All 80 acres potentially have some impact on the kids that go to school there because they are all in close proximity to the school," Collins said. "In my mind, it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever to try to get a clean bill of health for part of this property and not all of it."
In its lawsuit, NSFOC notes that the peaker power plant operated from June 1970 until a year ago with "no pollution controls or pollution monitoring systems in place." Consequently, its complaint suggests 26 different kinds of chemicals the EPA associates with peaker plants could now pollute the property's soil and groundwater, and, the group fears, "permeate back up through the soil and into the school building, or expose students outside to these contaminants."
"Where do they think all of that stuff went to? I mean, heavy metals just don't go into the ground and go away," Walker said.
