July 10, 2008
$8 million park targeted for sewage facility
On Thursday July 10 at 7:30 pm, trustees are scheduled to consider an ordinance that will allow contractors to break ground The Hinsdale Monitoron a sewage treatment facility in Veeck Park. The facility includes a one-million-gallon underground tank and an above ground structure for separating and holding solid waste matter. The solids, which will include everything that goes into Hinsdale’s toilets, fecal matter, feminine hygiene products, decomposing animals, and natural debris, will be screened, removed regularly and placed in trucks to be hauled through the park to an off-site location. The playing fields will abut the area covering the tank and fall in the shadow of the screening structure. Because of the concrete access road that will be created for the trucks that remove the solid waste, the Veeck Park baseball field will need to be fenced to prevent athletes in the outfield from possibly being injured on the concrete.
Once the holding tank is full, unscreened sewage will be injected with chlorine, screened and diverted from the holding tank, then discharged directly into Flagg Creek. The untreated sewage in the full holding tank will remain there until Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District gives the Village permission to discharge the sewage into the Flagg Creek system. The screening structure will not be airtight, but vented into the atmosphere. As a concession to residents who expressed concern about the proposed facility, engineers agreed to install charcoal filters in an effort to control odor. When asked if there would be an odor, an engineer from Clark Dietz replied, “I would be very surprised,” a remark that residents did not find reassuring.
What happened at Zoning and Public Safety?
Most recently vetted at the Zoning and Public Safety Committee meeting on June 23rd, the plan was greeted with skepticism by committee members. Chairman Mike Smith and fellow trustees Tom Cauley and Vic Orler listened to residents’ questions and the responses of representatives from engineering firms Huff and Huff, and Clark, Dietz. Trustee Cauley expressed his frustration at having to weigh in on a project that had changed so dramatically since its inception. “Back when we first had this come to the Board, and I was a brand new trustee, my understanding was a one-million-gallon tank that would hold rainwater and that it would release that rainwater four times a year to the Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District. We never discussed an above ground facility. We never discussed sewage treatment. We never discussed capturing solid waste on screens to be put in a dumpster. We never discussed two big chlorine tanks and a chlorine injection system. It seemed like a pretty clean, uncontraverted system. It never came to the Board [as it evolved] and now it comes as a sight plan review.”
ZPS says: Let's clear the air
By the end of the meeting, all three trustees agreed that a “special, open meeting” of the entire Board should be held to answer questions and to explain the evolution of the project. They recommended gathering all of the parties (engineers, representatives from Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Illinois EPA, IDOT, consultant Bill Seith, village staff, residents, the Village attorney and trustees) to clarify the details and the ramifications of the plan before approval. Trustee Vic Orler recommended that residents submit questions to be addressed at this special meeting but as of midnight on Wednesday, July 9, no such meeting has been scheduled, and trustees appear to be moving forward with the approval.
In addition to posing risks to health, safety and property values, this $5 million plan is not a long-term solution to Hinsdale’s combined sewer overflow problems, but merely a temporary band-aid without any assurances that it will satisfy the provisions of the settlement with Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District. Residents wishing to voice their concerns can attend the meeting at 7:30 pm in Village Hall, or can contact the trustees at Trustees@villageofhinsdale.org.
For a more information about the treatment facility, please refer to the June 23, 2008 Hinsdale Monitor article below:
June 23, 2008
Sewage Treatment Facility--BOT’s latest foray on Veeck Park
Monday June 23rd at 7:30 pm the Zoning and Public Safety (ZPS) Committee will address a number of hot-button issues before they go to the full Board in a few short weeks. Of most immediate concern for ALL Hinsdale property owners is the proposed Sanitary Treatment Facility to be located in the Northeast corner of Veeck Park. Hinsdale would be the first and only community in Illinois to have a sanitary treatment facility operating in a residential neighborhood. Pursuant to negotiations with the Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District, local attorney and paid consultant Bill Seith has arrived at a settlement that puts the Village of Hinsdale in the sewage treatment business. Neighbors have expressed their concern about the storage of chlorine and the sewage treatment process itself. Questions linger about safety, odor, noise, and possible ongoing litigation. The implication is that if this settlement is not reached soon, large development projects currently in the pipeline, e.g. the Hinsdale Club, will not be permitted to hook up to the sewer system.
Originally described as a “Wet Weather Facility”, where storm sewer overflow resulting from heavy rain would be held, the project is now described on the ZPS agenda as “Sanitary Treatment Facilities”. Originally, the proposal included the construction of two smaller buildings--one a chlorine storage building, and the other containing the pump, at the northwest and northeast corners of the Park. After residents expressed their worry about having large amounts of chlorine literally in their backyards, the engineering firm of Clark Deitz agreed to house the entire facility in one 1,242 square foot building at the northeast corner of the park. The building will contain three separate rooms: the first will house a chlorine storage tank and a pump to infuse the chlorine into the sanitary sewer; a second to house the mechanical equipment; and a third that will contain the “screening room” where the waste discharged from the sewers will be collected. When a critical amount of solid waste has accumulated, it will be loaded onto trucks and transported out via a new access road along the east side of the park.
RESIDENTS WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFECT THAT THIS PROJECT WILL HAVE ON THEIR PROPERTY VALUES AND THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND MONDAY NIGHT’S MEETING.