Palatine committee approves change order to remove underground tank at 5 West Palatine Road, OKs IDOT highway agreement

The Palatine Village Council’s Infrastructure & Environment Committee voted to approve a change order for removal of an unexpected underground storage tank discovered during excavation at 5 West Palatine Road and separately approved a highway authority agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation to manage contamination under the pavement.

“We uncovered an additional unexpected underground storage tank,” said Mr. Berry, the village staff member presenting the item, describing the need for immediate removal. Berry identified the recommendation as a change order with the contractor in an amount not to exceed $29,921 and said the highway authority agreement carries an associated expense of $16,782.53; he said both costs would be funded from the property's environmental escrow.

Committee members pressed staff on how thoroughly the site has been excavated. Berry said the village has installed borings and monitoring wells but has not excavated the entire parcel; he called the approved work “one step towards dealing with the leaking underground storage tank” and warned additional items could come before the council after the first of the year as indoor inhalation exposure risks are evaluated.

A village staff speaker noted that reaching a letter of no further remediation to a residential standard would likely exhaust the environmental escrow and that any additional exploratory work could be funded by TIF dollars or by project-specific funds if redevelopment proceeds. After discussion and no public comment, the committee approved both the contractor change order and the highway authority agreement by voice vote; the items were directed to the consent calendar for final approval by the full council.

The committee’s approvals do not finalize any redevelopment decisions. Officials said further remediation steps, monitoring results and cost updates will return to the council if new contamination is found or if the scope of work expands.