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Concerns
stall
school's methane project
Chicago Tribune
- 2/5
With
work already under way, a $1.4 million project to convert landfill
methane into power and heat for Antioch Community High School
is stalling over safety and noise concerns.
An
underground pipe that would carry methane gas about a mile from
the landfill to the school, and travel under part of McMillen
Road, is the source of much of the concern.
"There
are some concerns of environmental nature--about emissions and
noise--and whether running utilities under the roadway would cause
some problems ... with the roadway or the village's water system,"
Village Engineer Jim Keim said Tuesday.
Another
worry is that noise from turbines will disturb neighbors, said
Scott Pierce, chairman of the village's Planning, Zoning and Building
Committee.
The
committee is considering whether to grant an easement to allow
the school to run the pipe under the road.
School
officials said Tuesday the committee is needlessly delaying work
on the project, which village officials previously had supported.
"They
have been involved with the project since it started," said
Bill Ahlers, business manager for District 117. "I don't
know why they are having questions now."
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has helped with the work,
and part of the funding came from a $550,000 grant from the Illinois
Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.
"With
all the money they spend on engineers and the documentation we've
given them, you'd think we'd be able to go ahead," said school
board President Phil Delany. "It doesn't seem like it would
be a difficult thing to get done."
The
village received an application Dec. 18 for an easement from the
high school to run the gas line under the road.
Pierce
said the village has received some of the information it needs
from the high school and has been told more documents would be
delivered by Thursday.
The
planning panel could meet next week and make a recommendation
about the easement in time for the board to vote on the permit
at its next meeting, Feb. 17, Pierce said.
"If
[the Village Board] acts at their next meeting to approve the
easements, it will be OK," Ahlers said.
At
a meeting two weeks ago, committee members said they wanted more
information about the pipe, which would run through a wetland.
The
village would get the complaints if anything goes wrong, Pierce
said.
"We're
the ones who will have to deal with it," he said.
Ahlers
said the pipe would be safe and that noise and heat from the turbines
would be negligible.
When
school officials announced the plan in July, they said the project
could save tens of thousands of dollars a year and perhaps even
make money by selling excess electricity to Commonwealth Edison
Co. The school district could become the first in the state to
get power and heat from landfill gas.
Officials
from Waste Management, which owns the 51-acre landfill, operate
similar projects in 22 states, including 10 in Illinois. But it
is unusual for a school to be involved, they said.
Plans
call for 12 turbines to be built on school grounds about 200 feet
from the school boiler room.
A
byproduct of decomposing waste, methane gas will travel through
the pipes to the turbines, where electricity will be generated.
Water in radiators around the turbines will be heated, then carried
to the school's boiler room to heat the 252,000-square-foot building.
During
winter break, workers began laying pipes at the school, at Main
Street and Illinois Highway 173, Ahlers said.
The
next step will be to run the pipeline from the school to the landfill,
east of the school and just north of Illinois 173.
If
construction proceeds, the school would be able to make its own
electricity and heat--possibly as early as April--saving residents
$60,000 to $70,000 a year, Ahlers said.
Supt.
Dennis Hockney said the school district has been asked to make
a presentation about the project next month at the Great Lakes
Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable in Chicago.
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