By Stephen Nelson
A decade old proposal to build an oil pipeline and storage tank facility on a property on Ninth Street in Romeoville faces another delay after the Will County Board, at its June 15 meeting, voted to send it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further clarification of the environmental risks.
The pipeline would remove what the owner of the company behind the proposal, Dave Nelson of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, says is 100 rail tanker cars that transport oil on a daily basis on railways in Will County. Nelson told the board the rail cars carrying oil are a greater environmental risk than moving it through an underground pipeline to a terminal where it can be loaded directly on to barges.
County Board members in the district, representing residents living near the project, object because they say residents have not been given enough information regarding it. In deference to those board members, a majority of the panel agreed with the motion to send the matter back to the committee. It was not specified what measures the Planning and Zoning Committee would take to get additional information to residents during a 30-day review period. The PZC of Will County, as well as another municipal governing body, have already approved the project.
In what was otherwise a mostly routine session, the Will County Board approved a special use permit for a construction sales and service company at 29860 S. 120th Avenue, Peotone. Members approved a special use permit for a company to establish a storage facility that would include RVs at 26165 W. 111th Street, Plainfield. They also approved a special use permit for a truck terminal on 9.63 acres of vacant property on S. Cherry Hill Road, Joliet. Finally, members also approved a special use permit for a company that will offer Heavy Equipment Sales and Rentals at 16434 Cherry Creek Court, Joliet.