SOUTH CHICAGO — State environmental regulators have approved developers’ plans to clean up the former site of a South Side steel mill, clearing the way for work to begin on the Quantum Shore Chicago project.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency this week signed off on a cleanup plan for the old U.S. Steel South Works at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Developers Related Midwest and CRG are pursuing updated approvals that would clear the site as safe for redevelopment.
The Quantum Shore project will include the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a replacement for Advocate Trinity Hospital, single-family housing and improved access to South Chicago’s lakefront parks, officials have said. The development broke ground Sept. 30.
The site was remediated under U.S. Steel’s ownership, and it has received “no further remediation” letters in the decades since the South Works’ closure. Illinois environmental regulators issue such letters to confirm site conditions “do not present a significant risk to human health or the environment.”
Most of the property needs no further remediation, as the state previously determined, developers said last month. However, recent soil and water testing found pollutants like petroleum, heavy metals and man-made chemicals from the steel mill’s operations.
State regulators on Monday approved a plan to clean up those pollutants, which was drafted for the developers by Little Village-based Pioneer Engineering and Environmental Services.
With the conditional approval in hand, and with no further approvals needed, remediation and construction work will begin this month, the developers said.
“Leveraging our decades of experience with complex environmental projects, we remain committed to meeting all reporting requirements and regulatory standards … to address legacy contamination and to ensure the protection of human health and the environment,” Related Midwest spokesperson Matt Baker said in a statement.
A major aspect of the remediation plan would enclose contaminants within a massive barrier system. A horizontal barrier of asphalt, concrete or clean soil would cover the entire Quantum Shore site, while nearly 2 miles of “slurry walls” would prevent pollution from leaking into Lake Michigan or the Calumet River, according to the plan.
The state’s approval requires the developers to meet a series of conditions as they carry out the plan and work toward updated “no further remediation” letters. The conditions include:
- Monitoring the slurry wall system’s effectiveness for at least 30 years.
- Remediating groundwater near a well which showed elevated levels of vinyl chloride.
- Addressing an additional soil sample which was determined to be hazardous and corrosive.
- Either developing systems to mitigate the risk of vapor inhalation, or performing additional testing to determine such systems are not needed, once the specific locations of buildings on the premises are finalized.
The full report and remediation plan is available through the agency’s website.
While most of the property needs no further remediation, as the state previously determined, about 6.5 percent of the site is polluted beyond modern cleanup standards, the developers said last month.
Residents remain concerned about unearthing slag, contaminated soil and other byproducts of the steelmaking process during construction. Neighbors have also sounded the alarm about the possible effects of transporting pollution from the site during its cleanup, like heavy truck traffic and escaped dust.
Amid the concerns, the developers enrolled the entire project site in state’s Site Remediation Program, a voluntary program that oversees the cleanup of contaminated properties.
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