Driving down Central Street, the structural steel columns are pointing skyward above the screened fence construction enclosure. The Ryan Field construction website is all about steel and concrete, but there is no news about permits for the storm sewer and its potential water quality impact on the North Shore Channel.
NU may try to be a good neighbor and may believe it is doing its best to comply with its agreement with the city as stadium construction proceeds. But the news is on a one-way path, and here is what we want you to know. Inquiries are not answered.
NU isn’t coming forward with information about the Ryan Field storm sewer to address concerns about the discharge of groundwater and stormwater from the below grade playing field. These types of waters are considered “clean” when compared with sewage and surface stormwater runoff, thus they are not allowed to be discharged into the city and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) sewage system and conveyed to the MWRD plant on Howard Street. Instead, they can be discharged directly to the North Shore Channel.
A month ago, a notice appeared on the Ryan Field website advising nearby residents that crews would be out east of the field on Asbury Avenue, Chancellor Street and the golf course conducting investigations to obtain geotechnical data to design a storm sewer. However, construction of the storm sewer cannot proceed until permits have been approved.
The storm sewer requires an MWRD permit, and discharge of the “clean” water to the channel requires a permit from the Illinois EPA. The Ryan Field website is silent on the status of these two permits. Through a permit inquiry on the MWRD website, I have been informed that the permit application to construct the storm sewer and associated construction site soil erosion controls has been submitted and is undergoing review.
Through a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request, I have obtained a copy of the IEPA permit application, called a “Notice of Intent (NOI) for General Permit to Discharge Storm Water Associated with Construction Site Activities.” With the application, NU had to submit a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Impact Assessment (EcoCAT) approval letter.
Rather than being transparent and a truly good neighbor by posting both permit applications on the Ryan Field website, NU prefers to force the public to submit FOIA requests and permit inquiries.
Construction of the storm sewer also requires easements from the City of Evanston and MWRD to cross MWRD-owned land that is leased to the City of Evanston for the golf course. These easements have already been executed by all parties. The city has allowed NU to construct a private sewer in the public right of way of Asbury Avenue and Chancellor Street.
Inquiries to Larry Blouin, NU senior director of capital programs and the official who signed and certified both permit applications, have not been answered. Clearly, NU has fallen short on being a good neighbor. It should strive to demonstrate that Ryan Field drainage via the storm sewer will not adversely impact North Shore Channel water quality.
Richard Lanyon, former MWRD executive director
Letter to the editor: See the steel, but not the sewer is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.