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Politics & Government

Hickory Creek Pollution Lawsuit Settled

Two New Lenox-based companies have settled an environmental dispute with the state and another company, agreeing to pay damages related to pollution that eroded part of a Will County Forest Preserve.

Two New Lenox-based companies have settled an environmental dispute with the state and another company, agreeing to pay damages related to pollution that eroded part of a Will County Forest Preserve.

Family-owned Larjen Enterprises and O’Donnell Construction, of New Lenox, were named in a 2007 lawsuit along with national developers InSite Real Estate and their agent—all of which owned or conducted business for a 10-acre parcel of land at one time near Route 30 and Vancina Lane.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office alleged that the companies were responsible for letting silt and other ground construction materials flow by rain water over 3 acres of the , which is located to the immediate north and west.

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Investigators from the Will County Forest Preserve District and other agencies, including the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), claim that the parties failed to take proper precautions and adequately fix the problem when warned, causing erosion of open land and polluting streams and the creek for which the preserve was named.

In places eight inches thick, silt run-off “buried native plants, organic soils, and native sand and gravel,” and “physically altered the environment which certain plants and animals can exist,” the state said.

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According to court records, Larjen bought the property near Route 30 and Vancina Lane in 1985, when it was still unincorporated and held private housing and retail. The company cleared the land of debris following an arson attack and began refilling it. Work was halted temporarily while the owners applied for a Will County Site Development Permit.

They got one, but they never got a permit from the IEPA concerning acceptable storm water discharge, and claimed in court papers they didn’t know they needed one.

InSite purchased the property in 2005, about one year before a Forest Preserve employee came upon the pollution, court records show. Fences and a basin that were later installed didn’t work.

In court, the state said Larjen and O’Donnell caused the conditions, and InSite failed to stop them.

InSite filed a counter-suit against Larjen and O’Donnell alleging negligence and breach of contract for selling property in violation of environmental standards. In turn, Larjen and O’Donnell claimed in their own counter-suit that they were only following the orders of InSite, with whom they were under contract to deposit silt and other materials as part of the site’s restoration.

Larjen and O’Donnell also brought a counter-claim against Donald Johnson and his civil engineering company—Johnson, Weinmiller and Fisher—who counseled the property owners on cleaning up the site. In a sworn deposition, Johnson said he had been responsible for creating a grading plan for the site, not for providing management services. His company soon disbanded, causing Larjen and O’Donnell to drop the latter claim.

In 2010, the remaining two parties each agreed to pay the state $175,000 in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. They continued to sue one another, but reached an out-of-court settlement last month, on the first day of their trial.

The owners of Larjen and O’Donnell could not be reached for comment. Their attorney declined a request for interview, as did a representative from InSite.

However, Insite’s attorney, William Anaya, said Larjen and O’Donnell agreed to pay InSite for damages.

Although he wouldn’t release the final dollar value, Anaya said the settlement compensated for the $175,000 that InSite paid the state in fines; for the cleanup of the forest preserve, which InSite was forced to pay; and for four years worth of attorney and court fees. And for that his clients—whom he described as “very responsible” and “surprised by what the state found”—are happy.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about money,” Anaya said, “and we’re glad this was resolved justly.”

Their 10-acre parcel at Route 30 and Vancina Lane remains on the market, though a sign posted on the property announces a retail center in fall 2012.

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