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Mt. Prospect bans groundwater wells by Busse Car Wash

The Mount Prospect Village Board last week passed a ban on groundwater wells in the vicinity of the Busse Car Wash property at 113 E. Prospect Ave.

According to village documents, the ordinance was drafted at the request of co-owner Mark Busse, who would then be able to obtain a No Further Remediation Letter from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Then, no further cleanup would be needed on the site, which once had underground storage tanks.

As Public Works Director Sean Dorsey told the village board, “There was some contamination at the Busse Automotive site,” which required monitoring from the IEPA.

Dorsey said there are no groundwater wells in that area and the village board in the past has approved similar ordinances. The village’s attorneys advised that if the village adopted the ordinance, the burden is on Busse for monitoring compliance.

When contacted, Busse said there were fuel tanks on the property in the 1980s before he bought it. All the tanks have been removed, he said.

In 2009, K-Plus Environmental Engineering Group advised the village’s attorneys that it supports the ordinance. The engineering group said it reviewed a report by Andrews Engineering Inc. on behalf of the property owner.

According to the report, the site was enrolled in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program in 1990. Over the years, monitoring has found concentrations of benzene and “other gasoline indicator contaminants” on the site are declining.

The report said the property owner requested the IEPA allow the existing contamination to remain in the soil and groundwater provided the current buildings and pavement remain in place “and that these are maintained as engineered barriers to prevent contact with the contaminants.”

Testing has indicated that contamination extends off the property but borings by Andrews indicated that any migration of contaminants off-site would be below IEPA cleanup objectives.

Under the ordinance, if the contamination extends onto the village right of way, Busse would reimburse the village for reasonable costs incurred by the village for disposal of any contaminated soil or groundwater found while repairing nearby streets.

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