News Releases - 2003

Cicero School District Site Now in Compliance with State Environmental Laws

Springfield, Ill. -- Illinois EPA Director Renee Cipriano announced that the Agency has issued a No Further Remediation letter to Cicero School District #99 for the former Danly Machine property located between Laramie Avenue and 54th Avenue in Cicero.

This letter documents that District 99 is now in compliance with state environmental laws for this site, which will allow the new junior high school to be occupied. Unity Junior High School is scheduled to open in August of 2003.

Due to public concerns over environmental contaminants in schools, a new law was passed in 1999, and revised in 2001, requiring that environmental audits be conducted prior to any school building construction in Cook County. If the audit reveals evidence of a hazardous substance, then the property must be cleaned up under the Illinois EPA’s Site Remediation Program before the school building can be occupied. In many areas of Cook County, the only properties available for school expansion are located in industrial areas.

The Unity Junior High School property had been an industrial site since the early 1900s. Over the years, various operations at the site included metal work and upholstering and on carriages; manufacturing of household appliances, munitions casings, automotive and farm equipment; and some processes that included painting, engineering and manufacturing of large machines. The decades of manufacturing left behind concerns of industrial contamination. Investigations revealed soils that were impacted by mineral sprits, chlorinated solvents and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.

In its redevelopment efforts, Cicero School District #99 demolished all structures, remediated impacted soils and constructed the new junior high school complex, which will serve about 4,000 students.

In order to more efficiently investigate and remediate the contamination, the site was divided into seven zones: Zones 1 through 5, Zone 6 and Zone 7. Zones 1 through 5, the former Danly Machine property, have been satisfactorily remediated to residential standards, known as Tier 1. This is the most stringent standard to which Illinois EPA can require cleanup. A No Further Remediation letter has been issued for Zones 1 through 5; work on Zone 6, a future parking lot, has been completed and an NFR letter is anticipated within a few days. The Illinois EPA is awaiting a completion report on Zone 7, the only remaining parcel, which will also be a parking lot.