The Village Board on Tuesday approved agreements with Amoco and Clark gasoline distributors that requires those companies to clean up soil in public rights of way that is contaminated by seepage from the Amoco station at 157 S. York Rd. and the Clark station at 600 N. Illinois Highway 83.
In return, village officials agreed to ban the use of groundwater flowing beneath those gasoline stations for drinking or any other domestic purpose, enabling Clark and Amoco to put off the cleanups until such time as the contaminated soil endangers human health or the environment.
Gasoline spills have seeped from the gas stations into village-owned land at both locations, said Public Works Director Paul Quinn. The contamination poses no threat to passers-by now, but it could if street repairs or new construction exposes the soil. When that happens, the agreements allow the village to either require the oil companies to perform the cleanup or to do the work and bill the companies afterward. The agreements put a limit of $20,000 for each cleanup, but that limit will be adjusted to reflect the consumer price index every five years.