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Yorkville OKs contract for more environmental testing as part of downtown hazard cleanup · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Yorkville OK's contract for more environmental testing as part of Downtown Hazard
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  Cleanup. This article is being read by an automated
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  voice, brought to you by Everlit. As part of the 4.3 million
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  revitalization project of the hydraulic district into an entertainment and recreational hub,
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  Yorkville, will have to invest more in the significant environmental hazard cleanup
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  of the area before any development can begin. Holes were drilled beneath
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  the downtown parking area in Yorkville, but the underground pollution proved too
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  extensive to map out. Holes were bored, air, soil, and water samples
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  were examined for pollution across the downtown FS property located along Van
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  Emman Street, but another eighty-six thousand dollars with Terracon Consultants is needed
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  to find The pollution, map it out, and develop a remediation plan.
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  A remediation plan is key to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency green
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  lighting any future work on the Brownfield site. The contract approved by
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  the city council is on top of a previous 100,000 contract with
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  Terracon approved last August, which failed to establish a detailed enough pollution
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  plan to move forward. City Administrator Bart Olson said the new environmental
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  samples will be more in-depth, better defining where The pollution is located,
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  and how best to clean up the brownfield site. The contract includes
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  testing at 29 locations within the site. We had not done any
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  testing down there for over a decade, Olson previously said. The pollution
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  migrated. The
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  amount of tests that we did wasn't detailed enough for us to
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  be able to get a site remediation plan. Olsen said having the
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  IPA sign off on a remediation plan opens up the site for
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  potential state grant funding. The additional round of testing is expected to
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  take around eight to twelve weeks. The IPAR review is expected to
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  take another twelve to sixteen weeks before the remediation process can actually
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  begin. Once the AIPA goes over the pollution findings, the city will
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  either get clearance to move the contaminated soil or clean it up
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  further. The severity of environmental pollution discovered in the soil gas, and
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  groundwater studies will determine the extent of the necessary cleanup and the
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  timeline of the hydraulic district's rejuvenation project going forward. Why it's taken
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  time. It is difficult to map the underground pollution at the popular
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  social site behind Rowdy's adjacent to Southbank original barbecue because for decades
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  the soil soaked up agricultural and industrial chemical products. The FS property
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  included a lumber yard, feed mill, equipment repair services, fertilizer supply, animal
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  feed supply, diesel fuel supplies for local farmers, and A distributor of
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  kerosene, oil, and gasoline. New pollutants from these services ceased in 2000.
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  But chemical, metal, and organic contaminants remain in the soil requiring remediation.
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  Also located in the Hydraulic District is the former Kendall County Farm
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  Bureau building, which has been used as a cold storage facility, slaughterhouse,
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  food pantry, and a meat processing facility. A large portion of the
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  area features a public parking lot, which was first paved in 2000.
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  An additional 21,500 is needed to remove concrete foundation walls beneath the
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  walking lot, according to city documents. Plans for a renewed downtown area
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  City officials have envisioned the site as key to revitalizing the downtown
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  area. City plans propose a music stage, an events plaza, and renovated
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  businesses and walkways. In May 2025, the city was awarded a 3
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  million Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant to revitalize the downtown area, including
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  new walking and biking paths, improved safety features, and aesthetic improvements like
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  outdoor lighting and decorative pavers and entryways. City planners hope this will
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  someday spur mixed-use residential and commercial developments near the Fox River. The
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  city has been trying to start the cleanup as early as 2016
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  and was finally able to move ahead once it bought the downtown
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  FS property in 2024. The entire site is located west of Illinois
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  Route 47 between East Hydraulic Avenue and East Van Emmen Street. Olson
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  said the site is currently TIFF eligible, which should help mitigate the
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  city's costs. As part of the rejuvenation project, the parking lot would
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  be scaled down, with expanded parking spaces placed in adjacent areas, including
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  along the river. The city has been working with different private and
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  public property owners over decades, along with seeking grant funding, to plan
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  a course of action, Olson said.