DuPage considering Elmhurst plan to use quarry
DuPage County officials are trying to determine whether an Elmhurst quarry that helps keep Salt Creek inside its banks also should be used to prevent nearby homes from flooding.
Elmhurst officials say the city has experienced three major floods since 2010. To help address the problem, they're asking to run a pipe into the Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Facility, a reservoir along Route 83 owned and operated by the county.
If installed, the pipe would carry stormwater away from a nearby neighborhood of about 76 houses during heavy rains.
"Elmhurst residents are demanding relief and have asked the city to take action," Mayor Steven Morley wrote in a Sept. 9 letter. "I ask that the county allow the city of Elmhurst partial use of the quarry as temporary storage during significant storm events."
The letter was addressed to county board member Paul Fichtner, whose district includes Elmhurst. The Elmhurst resident also serves on the county's stormwater committee.
On Tuesday morning, Fichtner asked the stormwater panel to consider Elmhurst's request.
He said the proposal would use just 0.25 percent of the reservoir's 2.7 billion gallon capacity.
"I believe the request is a minimal and reasonable use of quarry capacity given the quarry's immediate adjacent location to the neighborhood that consistently floods," Fichtner said.
It's also not expected to lead to similar requests from other communities. Fichtner said it wouldn't be feasible from a cost or engineering standpoint to run pipes from other towns into the quarry.
"In fact, other neighborhoods in Elmhurst can't even tap into the quarry," he said.
Several stormwater committee members expressed support for the idea on Tuesday.
"Communities that are downstream will see a benefit in that we're not going to be putting more water into the creek," said county board member Peter DiCianni, who is a former Elmhurst mayor.
Still, stormwater committee Chairman Jim Zay said the county needs to contact officials in Oak Brook, Hinsdale and other towns downstream to see if they're OK with Elmhurst's request.
"It can easily be discussed with them and see what their feelings are before we do something like that," Zay said.
DuPage also might need the state to sign off on the idea. That's because Illinois helped pay for construction of the reservoir.
"I don't think anybody thinks it's a bad idea," Zay said. "I just want to make sure we do it right."
The 33-acre quarry was purchased in 1991 from Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. for $41 million as part of a larger effort to alleviate flood concerns surrounding Salt Creek. After more than three years of construction, the reservoir was used for first time in May 1996.