The operators of a Joliet landfill will ask the City Council to approve an expansion, even though the council rejected the same request in 1997.
The Geiss family, which runs the CDT Landfill at Mound Road south of Interstate Highway 80, will file its request with the city on June 23. Last week, the family’s corporation published a notice of its intent, which is required under state law to start the expansion process.
The request is identical to the one made in 1997, said Park Davis, the landfill’s attorney. The family then sought to add 66 feet of height to the 55-acre dump and expand across 24 acres of adjoining property.
Joliet councilmen voted 6-3 to reject the request. Local union members supported the expansion, but residents in the College Park and Cambridge subdivisions, just north of I-80, opposed it.
The Geiss family appealed the decision, but both the Illinois Pollution Control Board and the Illinois Appellate Court upheld Joliet’s decision. The family dropped its appeal last year.
In 1997, CDT Landfill officials said an expansion could add six to eight years of life to the facility. Now, “there is virtually no space left” in the landfill, which recently stopped taking local municipal waste, Davis said.
The Geiss family is renewing its expansion request because circumstances for landfills in Will County have changed, Davis said. The county is uncertain when it will be able to open a 455-acre landfill in part of the former Joliet Arsenal, he said.
“We believe there was a need (for an expansion) the first time,” Davis said.
“Now we believe the need is even greater.”
Joliet Councilman Anthony Uremovic, whose district includes the southwest side neighborhoods near the landfill, said he would again oppose the expansion.
“We’re seeking quality commercial activity,” he said. “We don’t need a garbage dump in our front yard.”
Under the state law governing the permit process, Joliet would have to hold a public hearing about the expansion request within 90 to 120 days after the landfill files its documents on June 23, Davis said.
Additionally, Joliet would have to establish a public comment period in which written comments could be submitted for 30 days, he said.
Under the law, Joliet would have to vote on the issue within six months after the request is filed, Davis said. If the council does not act within that time, the request would be considered approved by default, Davis said.
