Board Authorizes Risk Assessment on Proposed School Site

The Board of Education authorized Boelter & Yates, a Park Ridge engineering and scientific firm, to conduct a risk assessment of the proposed site of a new Hubble Middle School as it relates to the property’s proximity to the BP Naperville Campus.  The action follows the Board’s October 25 announcement that it has initiated plans that will put to rest concerns residents may have about the safety of the 18-acre site and its location north of BP on Herrick Road. The Boelter and Yates study will include an inventory of the hazards associated with the site and a scientific assessment of the risks they represent.  They will then conduct a comparative risk assessment using real and hypothetical hazards.  The firm will complete its work and submit a written report to the District by the end of December for a cost not to exceed $25,000. 

Meanwhile, James McNaughton Builders, owner of the 18-acre site, is preparing to file a request with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to enter its Site Remediation Program and secure a No Further Remediation (NFR) letter indicating the property is essentially free of environmental contaminants.  This process is normally used by land owners to get a clean bill of health for property that has been remediated after previous testing showed significant contamination.  While that is not the case for this property, it is believed that a ruling by the IEPA will allay concerns that a few residents have raised regarding the recent testing at the proposed school site   Two environmental firms tested the property in late summer and reported the District should not be deterred from building a school on the site due to environmental concerns.  They, in fact, called the property ‘pristine’. 

The District has also hired environmental attorney, James A. Vroman of the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block to advise and assist the District on environmental issues related to the relocation of the school. 

The Boelter and Yates study will include an examination of the following broad categories of hazards:  surrounding properties, radiation safety, air contaminants release scenarios, wind rose analysis, chemical management, accident management, transportation, traffic patterns, railroad proximity, site specific, analysis of existing Phase I and II reports, community emergency response capabilities, zoning, well water, and radon.

After analyzing the above hazards, Boelter and Yates will conduct a comparative risk assessment by substituting familiar hypothetical hazards for the existing, but largely unfamiliar, hazards on or near the site.  This type of study puts in perspective unfamiliar hazards identified to be in proximity to the proposed school site.

“This type of study gives the Board of Education the information and data needed to consider actual and perceived risks when making a decision about locating a school on the site in question,”  Mr. Vroman told the Board Wednesday.