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- News=20
Gov=
ernment,=20
The=
=20
Neighborhood Files
DuPage Flooding Could Be Resolved with Dredging, = Grassroots=20 Activists Say
The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is = launching a=20 campaign to raise money and awareness of the downstream flooding = problems.
![3DFacebook=20](3D"http://assets3.patch-assets.com/images/icon_share_facebook_15x15.p=){kind=icon}
Satellite photo of the berm built in 2008 by the =
Lakelands=20
subdivision to keep DuPage River water from flooding the lake around =
which the=20
subdivision is located. Some believe the berm altered the river's =
natural flow=20
and caused more flooding downstream. http://dupageriverflooding.com
Photos (5)
Don=E2=80=99t be surprised to find DuPage River clean-up activists = knocking on your=20 door this spring.
The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is writing mission = statements,=20 setting talking points and designing leaflets as they gear up for = door-to-door=20 canvassing. They are looking for cash flow to fund a massive river = clean-up and=20 dredging effort.
The group is made up of people who live in Plainfield=E2=80=99s older = downstream=20 neighborhoods who want to stop upstream subdivisions from building flood = walls=20 along the river, which they maintain have the potential to cause = flooding on=20 their property. They speak out against losing watershed acres to = new=20 housing and business development.
But they=E2=80=99ve narrowed their focus. The group is launching a = new public=20 information and fundraising campaign that they hope will ultimately pay = for=20 dredging and deepening the river channel to avert future flooding. =
=E2=80=9CWe see trees and garbage in the river,=E2=80=9D said Karen = Rebuehr, one of the=20 group=E2=80=99s organizers. =E2=80=9CI think once people see we are = really all about cleaning up=20 and reviving the river, they will see we are sincere.=E2=80=9D
River restoration proponents say flooding was never a problem until = the area=20 underwent rapid growth in the 1990s. With less land to soak up rain = water and=20 melting snow, water levels have risen.
=E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ve lived on the river all my life,=E2=80=9D said = Carl Bryant, president of=20 Contract Development Corp. and a longtime Plainfield businessman. = =E2=80=9CUntil the=20 past 10 years or so, nobody ever flooded,=E2=80=9D Bryant said.
Looking for political support
The DuPage River Storm Water-Concerned Group is looking for = grassroots=20 backing. But it=E2=80=99s also scouting out political allies. Group = members are=20 launching a letter-writing campaign to U.S. Rep Judy Biggert = (R-Hinsdale) and=20 state Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and reaching out to Will County Board = District 5=20 representatives Lee Ann Goodson, John Argoudelis and Brian = Smith.
An initiative for a
=E2=80=9CNo one is in the mood to spend money,=E2=80=9D township = Supervisor John Argoudelis=20 said when talking about the study at the February board = meeting.
River clean-up supporters are also looking to the Riverfront = Foundation, a=20 group that's trying to raise millions for an ambitious plan to = revitalize=20 hundreds of village-owned acres along the river near downtown = Plainfield.
=E2=80=9CWith all that land along the river and all those expensive = plans, it seems=20 the village has a stake in preventing flooding, too,=E2=80=9D said John = Otte, a DuPage=20 River Concerned Group member.
The group found a friend in Paul Fay, the village board trustee who = is=20 chairman of the Riverfront Steering Committee. The riverfront project is = a=20 "green" initiative that will enhance the river banks, Fay says. One of = its first=20 tasks will be to remove an earthen berm on the west river bank, built in = the=20 1950s to protect a roller rink that's no longer there.
=E2=80=9CThere is no one more vocal about flooding and water issues = in Plainfield=20 than I,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CI personally would be very happy to = partner with the group=20 and help advance their mission.=E2=80=9D
Fay said he worked with Cross to create a state task force to study = how=20 municipal development policies trickle down to impact floodway, = watersheds and=20 wetlands. House Bill 163 is awaiting approval from the General Assembly. = Fay=20 approached Cross after the last major flood, he said.
=E2=80=9CCommunities have to be far more sensitive to natural areas, = especially=20 pertaining to water,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CPast development = projects didn't give enough=20 thought to future impacts of some of their actions.=E2=80=9D
Water under the bridge
Folks who fight flooding have not always had a happy history with = Plainfield=20 village government and planners. Another reason the river group needs = money is=20 to fund its lawsuit to permanently stop berming along the river, which = has been=20 taken to the appellate court. There is a temporary restraining order = preventing=20 upstream subdivisions from building a flood wall while the matter works = its way=20 through court.
Lakelands residents want the berm to stop the river from flooding = into=20 Walloon Lake, which their homes encircle. At first the village of = Plainfield=20 turned down a permit for the wall because officials feared it could = jeopardize=20 downstream areas.
But the village reversed its decision when the Lakelands Homeowners=20 Association talked about taking the matter to court.
River clean-up proponents question whether the Lakelands is getting=20 preferential treatment from Plainfield officials in the suit because = village=20 Trustee Bill Lamb is president of the homeowners association. Lamb has = recused=20 himself from votes and discussion of the Lakelands issue but he = testified on=20 behalf of Lakelands residents at a March 2010 court hearing, according = to local=20 news reports.
=E2=80=9COne of these days I would love to talk about the situation, = but it probably=20 makes more sense to let the legal process play out before I do = so,=E2=80=9D Lamb told=20 Plainfield Patch in an e-mailed response to questions. =E2=80=9CMy hope = is that the=20 legal issues will get resolved so that everyone understands and accepts = the=20 situation.=E2=80=9D
River group supporters say they feel they are at a financial = disadvantage in=20 the lawsuit, in which they are pitted against Lakelands developer Gerry = Clark=20 and well-heeled residents in the high-end community.
=E2=80=9CThe Lakelands subdivision in Plainfield wants to build a =
flood wall or berm=20
that will prevent the DuPage River water from running its natural course =
during=20
heavy rains, but rather have the flood waters forced down =
river,=E2=80=9D the river=20
activists say on their Web site,
=E2=80=9CIf you live along the DuPage River, south of the north side = of Plainfield,=20 your property may start experiencing water problems if this berm gets = built,=E2=80=9D=20 the Web site says. =E2=80=9CThe value of your property could go = down.=E2=80=9D
Upstream solutions
Plainfield-area homeowners who have attended the DuPage River Storm=20 Water-Concerned Group meetings look upstream to a massive $71 million = DuPage=20 River clean-up at Warrenville as a model for the kind of river = renovation they=20 would like to see in their own bend of the river.
The problem is, it took a radioactive waste spill to spur that = effort. The=20 west branch of the DuPage River is one of four National Priorities List = sites in=20 the western suburbs contaminated with radioactive thorium waste from the = nearby=20 Rare Earths Facility, which produced the radioactive substances thorium, = radium,=20 and uranium and manufactured gas lantern mantles. Kerr-McGee Corp. = bought the=20 plant and closed it down in the mid-1970s.
Kerr-McGee had to pay for most of the clean-up. Then, in 2005, former = U.S.=20 Rep. Dennis Hastert landed a $10 million grant on behalf of DuPage = County for=20 =E2=80=9CHabitat Restoration=E2=80=9D through the National Oceanic and = Atmospheric=20 Administration. The grant pays for county and its forest preserve = district to=20 restore ecological health and biological diversity to the west branch of = the=20 DuPage River and watershed.
The group's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. March 3 at the Heritage=20 Professional Center, 24053 W. Lockport St.
Great, we'll send =
you an=20
email as soon as a follow-up is published!
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To view this video, =
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is enabled in your browser's preferences.
Satellite photo of the berm built in 2008 by the =
Lakelands=20
subdivision to keep DuPage River water from flooding the lake around =
which the=20
subdivision is located. Some believe the berm altered the river's =
natural flow=20
and caused more flooding downstream. http://dupageriverflooding.com
Photos
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