Environment

EPA Publishes Proposed Settlement For Brandon Road Property

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice of a proposed settlement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) concerning property at the heart of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.

The settlement calls for the Illinois DNR to take title to approximately 2.32 acres at 1800 Channahon Road in Joliet, Ill. The property’s current owner is Midwest Generation (MW), a Chicago-based utility. The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is designed to stop invasive carp from moving into the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The project will establish a series of barriers to prevent invasive carp from moving from the Mississippi River into the Illinois River and on to Lake Michigan at Chicago. The states of Illinois and Michigan are non-federal co-sponsors for the project.

Among project personnel, the parcel is referred to as the “right descending bank.” Illinois DNR is taking ownership because the property is believed to be contaminated with hazardous materials. After the state cleans up the site, EPA will grant a “covenant not to sue,” ending the state’s liability for contamination that could present in the future.

In the settlement agreement between EPA and Illinois DNR, historical contamination from coal is listed as a primary concern. The property is the site of a coal-fired power plant built in 1917 and contains a landfill used to “transfer or manage waste, hazardous waste, hazardous substances or petroleum.” The settlement agreement also acknowledges “the presence of surface impoundments, waste piles, underground storage tanks, above ground storage tanks, wastewater treatment facilities and container storage areas.” The list of contaminants covers multiple parcels, and Illinois DNR will determine contamination within specific sites.

To get those answers, IDNR is required to, within 30 days of finalizing the settlement:

  • Conduct a comprehensive site investigation, including geotechnical and environmental investigations to determine the nature and extent of any soil or groundwater contamination.
  • Depending on results, undertake a remedial action.
  • Construct a barrier to facilitate removal of contaminated soil and materials.
  • Relocate and extend a storm sewer system.
  • Backfill the excavated areas with clean fill.

While it was not immediately clear if remediation issues on the property could cause delays in the construction schedule, an EPA spokesperson said the Corps had identified the land parcel “as the critical pinch point for the larger Brandon Road Interbasin Project.”

The EPA added that there is no timetable for any cleanup, which will be “driven by the results of IDNR’s investigation of the property.” The spokesperson added that “all governmental stakeholders are working to avoid delays.”

Andrew Leichty, project manager for the Rock Island Engineer District, said the land “is an important part of the project and is necessary to have for future construction contracts to complete construction and to be able to operate and maintain the project.”

He explained that project sponsors are required to provide the land necessary for projects. That property cannot be impacted by hazardous materials.

“If something is detected on site that needs to be remediated, it is the sponsor’s responsibility to do that at their cost,” Leichty said.

While remediation could potentially delay the timing of future construction contracts, planning on the project is continuing, Leichty said. The Corps has awarded a contract to remove rock from the channel, and that work starts January 28.  The Corps is ready to solicit another construction contract pertaining to leading edge deterrents, with a contract expected to be awarded this summer.

”All of that work will be done without the right descending bank property,” Leichty said.

On December 9, the same day that EPA published its proposed settlement notice, the state of Michigan announced that the Corps of Engineers had awarded the first construction contract for the project. The $15.5 million contract was awarded to Miami Marine Services for site preparation and riverbed rock removal for the engineered channel. Miami Marine will partner with Milwaukee, Wis.-based Michels Construction on the contract.

Planning for the Brandon Road project began in 2019. Construction, once it starts, is expected to take six to eight years.