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Politics & Government

DuPage Flooding Could Be Resolved with Dredging, Activists Say

The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is launching a campaign to raise money and awareness of the downstream flooding problems.

Don’t be surprised to find DuPage River clean-up activists knocking on your door this spring.

The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is writing mission statements, setting talking points and designing leaflets as they gear up for door-to-door canvassing. They are looking for cash flow to fund a massive river clean-up and dredging effort.

The group is made up of people who live in Plainfield’s older downstream neighborhoods who want to stop upstream subdivisions from building flood walls along the river, which they maintain have the potential to cause flooding on their property.  They speak out against losing watershed acres to new housing and business development. 

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But they’ve narrowed their focus. The group is launching a new public information and fundraising campaign that they hope will ultimately pay for dredging and deepening the river channel to avert future flooding.  

“We see trees and garbage in the river,” said Karen Rebuehr, one of the group’s organizers. “I think once people see we are really all about cleaning up and reviving the river, they will see we are sincere.” 

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River restoration proponents say flooding was never a problem until the area underwent rapid growth in the 1990s. With less land to soak up rain water and melting snow, water levels have risen.

“I’ve lived on the river all my life,” said Carl Bryant, president of Contract Development Corp. and a longtime Plainfield businessman. “Until the past 10 years or so, nobody ever flooded,” Bryant said.

Looking for political support

The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is looking for grassroots backing. But it’s also scouting out political allies. Group members are launching a letter-writing campaign to U.S. Rep Judy Biggert (R-Hinsdale) and state Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and reaching out to Will County Board District 5 representatives Lee Ann Goodson, John Argoudelis and Brian Smith. 

An initiative for a , launched by Biggert and in 2009, has been stalled for nearly two years while legislators struggle to find the $200,000 needed to get the project off the ground. A complete study will cost millions, let alone whatever the price tag might be for dredging or deepening the channel. 

“No one is in the mood to spend money,” township Supervisor John Argoudelis said when talking about the study at the February board meeting. 

River clean-up supporters are also looking to the Riverfront Foundation, a group that's trying to raise millions for an ambitious plan to revitalize hundreds of village-owned acres along the river near downtown Plainfield.

“With all that land along the river and all those expensive plans, it seems the village has a stake in preventing flooding, too,” said John Otte, a DuPage River Concerned Group member. 

The group found a friend in Paul Fay, the village board trustee who is chairman of the Riverfront Steering Committee. The riverfront project is a "green" initiative that will enhance the river banks, Fay says. One of its first tasks will be to remove an earthen berm on the west river bank, built in the 1950s to protect a roller rink that's no longer there. 

“There is no one more vocal about flooding and water issues in Plainfield than I,” he said. “I personally would be very happy to partner with the group and help advance their mission.” 

Fay said he worked with Cross to create a state task force to study how municipal development policies trickle down to impact floodway, watersheds and wetlands. House Bill 163 is awaiting approval from the General Assembly. Fay approached Cross after the last major flood, he said.

“Communities have to be far more sensitive to natural areas, especially pertaining to water,” he said. “Past development projects didn't give enough thought to future impacts of some of their actions.” 

Water under the bridge 

Folks who fight flooding have not always had a happy history with Plainfield village government and planners. Another reason the river group needs money is to fund its lawsuit to permanently stop berming along the river, which has been taken to the appellate court. There is a temporary restraining order preventing upstream subdivisions from building a flood wall while the matter works its way through court. 

Lakelands residents want the berm to stop the river from flooding into Walloon Lake, which their homes encircle. At first the village of Plainfield turned down a permit for the wall because officials feared it could jeopardize downstream areas.  

But the village reversed its decision when the Lakelands Homeowners Association talked about taking the matter to court.

River clean-up proponents question whether the Lakelands is getting preferential treatment from Plainfield officials in the suit because village Trustee Bill Lamb is president of the homeowners association. Lamb has recused himself from votes and discussion of the Lakelands issue but he testified on behalf of Lakelands residents at a March 2010 court hearing, according to local news reports. 

“One of these days I would love to talk about the situation, but it probably makes more sense to let the legal process play out before I do so,” Lamb told Plainfield Patch in an e-mailed response to questions. “My hope is that the legal issues will get resolved so that everyone understands and accepts the situation.” 

River group supporters say they feel they are at a financial disadvantage in the lawsuit, in which they are pitted against Lakelands developer Gerry Clark and well-heeled residents in the high-end community.

“The Lakelands subdivision in Plainfield wants to build a flood wall or berm that will prevent the DuPage River water from running its natural course during heavy rains, but rather have the flood waters forced down river,” the river activists say on their Web site, http://dupageriverflooding.com.

“If you live along the DuPage River, south of the north side of Plainfield, your property may start experiencing water problems if this berm gets built,” the Web site says. “The value of your property could go down.” 

Upstream solutions 

Plainfield-area homeowners who have attended the DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group meetings look upstream to a massive $71 million DuPage River clean-up at Warrenville as a model for the kind of river renovation they would like to see in their own bend of the river. 

The problem is, it took a radioactive waste spill to spur that effort. The west branch of the DuPage River is one of four National Priorities List sites in the western suburbs contaminated with radioactive thorium waste from the nearby Rare Earths Facility, which produced the radioactive substances thorium, radium, and uranium and manufactured gas lantern mantles. Kerr-McGee Corp. bought the plant and closed it down in the mid-1970s.

Kerr-McGee had to pay for most of the clean-up. Then, in 2005, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert landed a $10 million grant on behalf of DuPage County for “Habitat Restoration” through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The grant pays for county and its forest preserve district to restore ecological health and biological diversity to the west branch of the DuPage River and watershed.

The group's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. March 3 at the Heritage Professional Center, 24053 W. Lockport St.

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