By Stephen Nelson
After a 30-day delay because of environmental concerns raised by residents, the Will County Board at its July 19 meeting gave the go-ahead to an oil storage facility and pipeline project in Romeoville.
The same request for approval was on the agenda at the June meeting, but county board members in the district representing residents living near the project objected because they said residents had 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.
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. The facility now will be built on property on Ninth Street in Romeoville.
Will County Board member Judy Ogalla voted yes on the approval, saying she agreed with the owner of the company, saying, “I believe it is safer than transporting fuel by rail or semi.” Ogalla said.