Inactive Quarry Filling
Inactive Quarry Filling
Joliet Herald
Inactive quarry could be annexed, filled
January 2, 2008
By BOB OKON Staff writer
JOLIET -- Owners of the Brandon Road quarry plan to fill it in and eventually convert it into an industrial park. But neighbors are worried that pumping the quarry could harm local groundwater.
The quarry, located on the east side of Brandon Road near Patterson Road, has been inactive since the 1950s. It since has filled with water and has become a site for local scuba diving practice.
The owners of the quarry on the east side of Brandon Road want to annex to Joliet and fill it in for an industrial park.
(John Patsch/Staff Photographer)
The owner, DeBe Land Development Inc. out of Orland Park, wants to use the quarry as a landfill for construction and demolition debris before eventually converting the site for an industrial park.
The Joliet Plan Commission last month approved a plan to annex the 26.7-acre site into the city despite objections from local homeowners. The city council must take final action on the plan.
The land now is part of unincorporated Joliet Township, and the neighbors live outside of the city limits, too.
Patterson Road resident Raymond Perry said activities at the quarry in the past have had impact on neighboring wells. And, drainage problems already are an issue on Patterson Road, he said.
"Now, if they fill that quarry up, where's the water going to go?" Perry asked.
Patti Nugent, who now lives in Manhattan but whose mother lives near the quarry, said groundwater closer to the Midwest Generation plant to the west has contained boron. She's worried that filling the quarry could shift groundwater patterns and lead to contamination of residential wells.
"Now, we're worried about them changing the groundwater flow without even thinking about it," she said.
Quarry owners are developing what they call a "well protection plan" for nearby neighbors but said they do not expect any impact.
"Our geologists indicate that there's little to no probability of impact on the groundwater," said John J. Koty, vice president with DeBe.
The quarry is 65 feet at its deepest point, Koty said. Nearby wells appear to be drilled at least 150 feet deep with the shallowest pump point being at about 100 feet, he said.
Koty said the site would have a 15-year life expectancy as a landfill, and market trends indicate growing interest in industrial land in the area.
The plan has been getting regulatory approval so far.
According to a city staff report on the project, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of the quarry as a landfill for clean construction and demolition debris, which would be used to fill it in.
The owners are in the process of getting permits needed to pump water out of the quarry, according to the staff report.
Joliet Herald News
Concerns rally group around quarry
WILL COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK
January 14, 2008
By BOB OKON Staff writer
The Will County Environmental Network is regrouping, focused on a plan to fill in the Brandon Road quarry.
The network will have a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mount Zion Baptist Church at 402 Singleton Place in Joliet.
It's the network's first meeting in several years, said Mary Baskerville.
"We welcome both past members of the network and any new people interested in protecting the environmental quality of the area," she said.
The group was first formed to deal with environmental concerns on the south end of Joliet, including the former landfill that since has become the Laraway Recycling Center.
The rallying issue now is a plan to fill in the Brandon Road quarry and eventually redevelop it into an industrial park.
Baskerville, a Manhattan resident whose mother lives near the quarry, is among a group that has raised questions about the quarry plan.
They want water studies done to determine if pumping out the quarry will harm wells of nearby residents.
The Joliet City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday whether to annex the quarry site into the city.
The owner of the quarry, DeBe Land Development Inc, has said that its own geologist has determined that pumping the quarry will not affect the local wells.
The city's Plan Commission has recommended that the quarry plan be approved.
Baskerville said the Will County Environmental Network has been involved in other issues in the past, including the siting of the Will County landfill.
"Our mission goes back at least 25 years," she said.
Joliet Herald News
Annexation tabled
January 16, 2008
By BOB OKON Staff writer
JOLIET -- A plan to annex the Brandon Road quarry site into Joliet has been tabled until the city council's Feb. 20 meeting.
The owners of the quarry site requested that the vote be tabled, city officials said. The council agreed to table a vote on the annexation at its Tuesday meeting.
DeBe Land Development Inc. of Orland Park wants to pump out the quarry and fill it with construction and demolition debris. Eventually, the 26.7-acre site would be developed into an industrial park, according to the plan.
Residents in the area around the quarry, which is located at Brandon and Patterson roads, have raised questions about the potential impact on nearby wells if the quarry is drained.
A DeBe Land Development official has said that the company's geologist has determined that their would be no impact. But neighbors are asking for a study to examine whether underground water patterns could be changed by draining the quarry.
Michael J. Martin, an attorney for DeBe Land Development, said there is still work to be done on an annexation agreement. But he also is considering taking the annexation plan to a committee meeting first, so the quarry owners can talk with neighbors about the project.
A volunteer group, the Will County Environmental Network, will hold its first meeting in several years today to examine the Brandon Road quarry project. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in Mount Zion Baptist Church at 402 Singleton Place, Joliet.
