Aurora quarry to begin accepting construction debris

Today, the land at the southeast corner of Route 25 and Mettel Road in Aurora is a former quarry, gated and locked and partially filled with waste from the city’s water treatment plant.

But in seven to 10 years, the city expects the site to be a 50-acre, environmentally sound building pad for offices or research facilities.

Under a contract the city council approved unanimously Tuesday night, Heartland Recycling of Forest View will oversee the land’s transition from quarry to building site by operating it as a dump for clean construction and demolition debris.

Heartland will pay $1.25 million to buy the city-owned land and take responsibility for environmental remediation of the lime sludge dumped there from Aurora’s water treatment plant, according to the contract.

And then next spring, the filling process will begin.

People in charge of public works and road construction projects across the suburbs can pay for the right to dump non-contaminated materials such as concrete, brick and rocks into the quarry, said Joe Volini, vice president of Heartland Recycling.

“There’s no contaminants, no garbage — it’s strictly construction debris,” said John Savage, a general partner with the redevelopment project.

Alderman Rick Mervine asked if there would be any gas emissions from the site once it’s filled.

Volini said there should not be any gas emissions because all loads of material will be “checked and profiled” before entering the quarry to ensure they do not contain any organic material.

Loads then are compacted to a level that will provide a stable foundation for office buildings.

“We’re going to take a site right on the tollway that in seven to 10 years can really bring value to the community,” Savage said.

The city’s public works crews will receive additional value from the project: rights to dump their clean construction and demolition debris in the quarry for free, Development Director Bill Wiet said.

“We’ve tried to structure the development agreement to be advantageous to the city so we will allow them to dump any of their construction debris at no charge,” Savage said. “We’re also going to have a preference to hire city residents.”

Once the quarry is filled, Heartland either will donate 15 of the site’s 50 acres back to the city, or pay the city fair market value to retain the land and sell it to a developer.

Once it’s developed, project leaders are envisioning the site as a smaller version of the Cantera development in Warrenville, which also was built atop a filled former quarry.