The village of Glenview will pay for additional environmental studies at a former industrial site it plans to purchase next year after earlier studies that were recently reviewed reportedly identified “preliminary concerns.”
Glenview trustees on Dec. 2 voted to approve a “subsurface assessment” of several parcels on the former 56-acre Signode site located northeast of Pfingsten Road and West Lake Avenue.
The $49,900 study will include 18 drill holes around the site, testing soil samples for contaminants, including toxic industrial chemicals and compounds. Concrete samples from building floor slabs will also be analyzed.
On Nov. 4, the Glenview Village Board voted to purchase the gated Signode property for $23.4 million, with board members saying they view it as a recreational facility and open space.
A manufacturer of protective packaging systems, Signode's operations included the use, production and storage of a variety of materials, including petroleum, solvents, acids, paints, hydraulic fluids and lubricants, according to a village spokesman. The complex contains three buildings that have been used for manufacturing, retail and offices, and have been used for heavy industrial purposes since the 1950s.
Signode moved from Glenview to Tampa, Florida in 2021.
Earlier environmental and asbestos studies that had been conducted on the site by a previous potential purchaser of the site were purchased by the village and covered at a cost of $105,105, which also included a site survey.
Carlson Environmental, the company hired to review those previous studies, will conduct new additional evaluations approved by the board.
“While they did not find significant problems at the site, they recommended additional investigation of certain subsurface areas to fill gaps in information,” said Community Development Director Jeff Brady.
He said the investigation “will determine the implications for the entire facility.”
Reviews of previous investigations showed that the site contained underground oil tanks, many of which were found to be leaking, the memo to the Village Council said. According to the memo, a preliminary subsurface survey identified chemicals that could affect the soil, groundwater and concrete slabs in one building.
“Historical site operation, chemical and waste generation/storage, and documented contamination at the site have been identified as preliminary concerns,” Carlson Environmental said in the note.
Village residents say the new analysis will better determine the known area of soil contamination and groundwater conditions. A former open drainage ditch in which waste accumulated and a former Navy incinerator adjacent to the site will also be examined.
The analysis is “intended to provide a level of confidence” that problems found in earlier environmental studies “are manageable and do not pose an immediate threat to human health or the environment,” Carlson Environmental said in the note.
The documents shared by the village do not address the potential restoration of the site.
If the sale goes through, the village will take ownership of the Signode site in February. Officials envision recreational uses and open space for the site, with the public and a partnership with the Glenview Park District and local school districts ultimately determining how the land will be redeveloped.
Playgrounds, athletic fields, athletic facilities, trails, natural areas and open space are all ideas for the site, Brady told the village board.
