The planned excavation of Barrie Park makes the site ideal for a new 
underground water reservoir and could save taxpayers $2.5 million in 
construction and pumping equipment costs, Oak Park Village Manager
Carl Swenson told a joint meeting of the Village and Park District Boards Friday.

Oak Park currently has three water reservoirs under park land in various
sites in the Village, including one at Garfield and Lombard across the street
from Barrie Park. The Village had been searching for a suitable site for an
additional reservoir when the Barrie Park issue arose.

 “Since all of our reservoirs are under park land and since each required 
a considerable excavation of soil, it just makes sense to take a look at
Barrie Park given the scope of the excavation that is planned there,”
Swenson explained.

Calling the Barrie Park proposal one of unique opportunity, Swenson said
that adding another 2.5 million gallons of storage capacity to the current total
of 10.2 million gallons would enable the Village to meet goals set by the 
State for municipalities using Lake Michigan water. The reservoir also 
would mean 600 hundred fewer truckloads of fill soil hauled to the park
along Village streets. 

Public Works Director Joseph Euclide said that installing a reservoir under
Barrie Park after the soil has been removed not only will save in excavation
costs, but also would allow the Village to use the pumping equipment at the
reservoir across the street. Not having to build a new pumping site will save
the Village about $2 million, he said, with additional savings coming from
using public land.

“I understand there may be fears that somehow the contaminants found in
Barrie Park could find their way into the reservoir and, ultimately, into the 
entire Village water supply,” Euclide said. “We would not be considering 
this idea were we not completely confident that the water supply will be safe.”

The utility companies are contractually bound to remove every grain of soil that
could possibly be contaminated, Euclide explained, with extensive testing planned
for steps throughout the process and beyond.

 “By the time the site has been excavated and ready for installation of the
reservoir, there will be no contaminants remaining. The tank then would 
be covered with fresh soil, the park restored and the Village water storage
capacity increased, all at a significant savings to taxpayers.”

 The reservoir would be a concrete tank lined with a special waterproofing 
to prevent anything from getting in or out. The engineering challenge normally
is to keep water from leaking out rather than prevent contamination from 
seeping in, Euclid said. The proposed reservoir would be 240 feet long, 
200 feet wide and six and one half feet high. It likely would be at least two 
and one half feet underground.

Barrie Park, a three-and-one-half acre parcel on the Village’s southeast side,
was once the site of a plant where coal was processed into gas for heating,
lighting and cooking. Although operations at the Oak Park facility ceased in 
1928, levels of byproducts of the process exceeding federal environmental 
standards have been found in the park soil. Barrie Park is one more than 
40 former manufactured gas plant sites currently being evaluated by ComEd
and Nicor for possible contamination.

Both the Village and the Park District have approved agreements with the utility 
companies to clean up the park and the surrounding area. The agreement calls
for the utilities to bear all costs and provide insurance coverage for the Village 
and property owners against any future legal claims linked to the contamination.

“The Barrie Park situation is not something any municipal government ever wants
to have to face,” Swenson said. “The entire situation is unfortunate, but everyone’s
patience and perseverance in making sure the Barrie Park neighborhood is
restored will be rewarded. Taking advantage of this unfortunate situation to get 
something more for the people of Oak Park makes a lot of sense.”

Clean-up activities are expected to get underway during the winter months.
Installation of a reservoir likely would not delay the clean up and restoration
of the park or surrounding neighborhood.
 

Proposed Barrie Park Reservoir Questions and Answers

Q: Why build a water reservoir in Barrie Park?

A: Building a reservoir in Barrie Park would allow the Village to save an
estimated $2.5 million in construction and pumping equipment costs. 
Approximately $185,600 would be saved by not having to pay for excavation
and restoration of a reservoir site. Another $2 million would be saved by using
the existing pumping station across from the park rather than having to build 
a new one. Additional savings would come from using public land.

Q: Were other sites besides Barrie Park considered?

A: A reservoir of the size needed to allow the Village to meet its long-term storage
capacity goals would require a sizeable parcel of open land or the destruction of
existing buildings. Barrie Park offered an opportunity to take advantage of a major
excavation of the very type of land that is ideal for this type of a water storage facility.

Q: Did the contamination in Barrie Park affect the reservoir across the
street?

A: No. When the Barrie Park issue was first raised, the water in the nearby
reservoir was immediately tested for the compounds found in the Park. A few
residents in the neighborhood also asked that their water be tested. The tests 
found no contaminants of any kind.

Q: Will the water from a reservoir under Barrie Park be safe?

A: Absolutely. The agreement between the utility companies, the Park District
and the Village requires the removal of all contaminated material from Barrie 
Park and the surrounding neighborhood. No contaminated material will remain
that could pose a threat to the water in the reservoir.

Q: How often will the water be tested and by whom?

A: The Village will work with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and 
other knowledgeable authorities to determine a testing schedule that best protects
the citizens of the Village. The Village currently tests its water supply every day. 

Q: What precautions will be taken to ensure nothing gets into the water
reservoir?

A: Standard designs for underground water reservoirs include special features to
make them impermeable to outside contamination. The normal engineering challenge
is one of keeping water from seeping out rather than contaminants from getting in. 

Q: If a contaminant was to get into the new Barrie Park reservoir could it
taint the entire Village water supply?

A: Depending on water usage, all of the reservoirs usually are not in use at the
same time. If a contaminate was found in any one of the reservoirs, water from
that one could be kept out of the system. 
 

Q: What effect would installing a storage tank have on the clean
up/restoration process? Will it slow down project and if so, how
much?

A: An exact remediation and restoration schedule has not yet been determined.
The reservoir construction would take about three months, but most of the work 
could occur simultaneously with other phases of the restoration. Another benefit 
of the reservoir is that 600 fewer truckloads of fill dirt would need to be hauled to the
site along Village streets.

Q: How much of the Barrie Park site would the reservoir take up?

A: Approximately 30 percent of the site. The reservoir would be 240 feet long,
200 feet wide and six and one half feet deep. It likely would be about two and 
one half feet underground. The Village would work closely with the Park District 
on the exact placement of the reservoir.

Q: Why does the village need another reservoir?

A: The State and our water supplier, the City of Chicago, ask municipalities to
have a total of two times the average daily pumpage in storage. Our average 
daily pumpage is approximately 6.2 million gallons. While our supply of water 
is far more than adequate, our storage capacity is 10 million gallons.

Q: Why is so much storage capacity required?

A: It likely is to protect the municipalities should a problem arise at the source.
Also, by having multiple storage facilities, a problem with one reservoir does 
not affect the entire water supply.

Q: Will water bills be affected whether or not we build a new reservoir?

A: Many factors affect the cost consumers pay for water, including improvements to
the water storage and supply system and the price the City of Chicago charges
for Lake Michigan water. Any savings the Village can realize in a major public 
works project will benefit the Oak Park residents. 

Q: What is the life expectancy of the reservoir?

A: The average life expectancy of an underground reservoir is approximately
100 years. The Village constantly monitors its reservoirs and would know if a 
problem had developed. Any necessary repairs usually can be made inside 
the tank, precluding the need to ever dig up and replace an existing reservoir.

Q: Are there alternatives to underground storage?

A: The most common alternative is an above-ground tank. While this approach
requires less land, an above ground tank is a prominent feature in any community
and may be seen by many residents as not in keeping with the character of Oak Park.

From: David Powers 
Communications Director 
Village of Oak Park 
708.358.5781