Demolition begins at the old Lincoln Street Department facility

[October 16, 2017] 

LINCOLN

At the Lincoln City Council Committee of the Whole last Tuesday evening aldermen heard from Mark Castro with Common Wealth Edison. Castro reported that the utility company coupled with Nicor gas is prepared to start the demolition of the old city street department buildings located on Third Street.

Castro said a fence was being put up for security purposes, and the first step would be the demolition of buildings. Once the buildings are gone the companies will begin the soil remediation as required by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Because the site was originally the city’s old gas plant, providing energy to town residents through coal power, the soils in the area have been contaminated with Benzene. Though the EPA tested the soils and found the Benzene levels to be “acceptable,” it still ordered that Common Wealth Edison and Nicor be required to do soil remediation.

After Castro’s presentation, Rick Hoefle and Michelle Bauer asked questions concerning public safety.

Hoefle asked if the contaminates at the location were air-borne or locked into the soils. Castro said contaminates are locked into the soils, there should be no concern for drift of any kind. Hoefle said he knew those buildings were quite old, and supposed there was asbestos present within the buildings. He asked if the utilities were acting accordingly. Castro said they were. He said buildings had been tested for asbestos, and asbestos removal will be the first step of the total remediation program. Asbestos will be removed before destruction of all the buildings.

He also noted that the utilities will do “real time” air quality testing to guarantee the safety of the community. In addition, he said the company would take measures to reduce the amount of dust coming from the site.

Bauer asked about the inconvenience to the community. Noting the close proximity to Carroll Catholic School and the Logan County Department of Public Health, she asked if the company would be diverting traffic during the demolition. Castro said it would not. There should be no disruption of traffic flow during this process.

For public information, Castro said the remediation plan would be given to the Lincoln Public Library and anyone was welcome to stop at the library to review the plan.

[Nila Smith]