Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting –
October 1, 2026

Deleted Agenda Item

• Item (2) 26-0687 Without comment or discussion John Murray, Executive Director, deleted the motion to appoint Patrick M. Blanchard as MWRD Inspector General from the agenda.

Housekeeping:

• Item (1) 26-0680. The Board approved the dates and times for regular board meetings in 2027

Biosolids  and PFAS (forever chemicals) disposal; 2 items deferred, one roll call vote requested
Items (12 and 13) 26-0657 and 26-0658  Commissioner Waller deferred these related items, but invited discussion. Staff sought authority to advertise a contract to transport dried sewage solids from its Lawndale Avenue Solids management area (LASMA) in Willow Springs and the Calumet solids management area (CALSMA) in Calumet to Hanover Park for disposal at the District’s 100 acre corn and soybean farm at the Hanover Park treatment facility. (projected transport cost $4.2 million and an additional $31.7 million for “beneficial reuse” of the biosolids on the farm).
Item (9) 26-0623 Commissioner Waller at the September 17th meeting had deferred this motion to advertise for a contractor to farm the Hanover Park property, including injecting biosolids underground; field prep, planting, fertilizing and harvesting crops.  At today’s meeting, Commissioner Waller asked Board President Steele to hold a roll call vote on the proposal.  (Projected cost $1.12 million over 3 growing seasons.  Much of that cost covers injecting bio solids waste into the earth.)
What followed was a robust discussion between the Executive Director Murray and Commissioner Waller, and then among all the Commissioners.  

• Commissioner Waller requested data on the concentration of PFAS in the biosolids that would be transported and applied to the farmland, and asked that MWRD data relating to these forever chemicals be made available to the Public. 
• At first Executive Director Murray said those data were already public and available on-line.  When Commissioner Waller repeated that it was the PFAS data she was interested in, ED Murray corrected himself, and said the District continued to collect PFAS data and that he would be comfortable releasing that data in January, 2027.
• In the course of that discussion, it was established that the MWRD was already tracking PFAS sources (discharge “hotspots) in its on-going data collection.  
• Commissioner Waller asked if approval of this biosolids farm disposal plan could wait until the PFAS concentration data was available to the Board.  ED Murray said likely not, that there was a long planning timeline. It was understood at the meeting that the bio solids had to be disposed of somewhere.
• Commissioner Waller said that while federal and state regulators had not issued regulations regarding safe levels of PFAS, Colorado had issued guidelines.  Could the Executive Director give the Board some idea of the PFAS concentrations in the District’s biosolids so she could compare with the Colorado guidelines?  ED Murray declined, but offered to give the board a memo with this information after the meeting.
• Prior to the role call vote on Item 9, other Commissioners made general comments that did not address health or environmental concerns of releasing PFAS-contaminated biosolids into the environment.  
• Commissioner Garcia noted that nearly everything we use and wear has PFAS in them, so he would vote in favor of injecting the biosolids into the District’s farmland.  
• Commissioner Corral-Sepulveda noted that until there were State and Federal Regulations governing PFAS, the District was in compliance, and biosolid disposal was the District’s responsibility.  She would vote yes.
• Commissioner Yumeka Brown asked staff to communicate any trends they find in the PFAS data when the time comes, and any concerns the Board should be made aware of.  She indicated she would vote yes.
• Vice President Flynn commented that the Hanover Park farm belonged to the District.  “I plan to vote yes. It is our property. We own this property.” 
• When it came to a vote, Commissioners Cameron Davis and Sharon Waller voted against authorizing Item 9.   All other Commissioners voted yes to approve seeking bids for biosolids disposal and management on MWRD’s Hanover Park farmland.

Stormwater Management

• Item (36) 26-0626 The Board authorized staff to negotiate and reach an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of LaGrange to design, construct and operate the 50th Street storm sewer flood relief project for an amount not to exceed $15.3 million.  

All Commissioners present                  Executive Session (None)
Observer: Laurie Morse                                                    

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
November 6, 2025

Agenda Items:

• Request Authority to Review Proposed Amendment User Charge Ordinance of the MWRD. Commissioner Waller requested that a definition of reuse be added to the ordinance. Executive Director (ED) Murray asked that additions be emailed to him for inclusion. Passed unanimously with no further discussion.  UC25-001- #1
• The board approved without discussion the 2026 $20,384 annual membership fee for the Water Reuse Association.  Water reuse legislation is becoming a bigger priority for the MWRD, and Commissioner Waller noted the work of the association and its members.  25-0807-#12
  
• Authority to advertise Rebuild of Dewatering Facility. Commissioner Waller asked ED Murray why there was a rebuild on the same location rather than a new building, perhaps at a different location. Murray responded that decision was impacted by the planned extension of the CTA Red Line. Pumping of biosolids was a consideration. The current building is basically in good shape, so rebuild makes better sense than beginning anew. Also, location serves the drying beds function well. 28-0826-#16    

Resolutions:

• Board of Commissioner honored Green Corps for three decades of leadership in job training. 750 trainees have come through the program learning skills in horticulture, landscaping, and community gardening. Trainees receive nine months of training; 76% of participants have a criminal background. 65% have gone to full employment after training.  Commissioner Precious-Brady-Davis said, “This is what equity looks like.”     25-0802-#2    
• The Board also honored Debra Shore and her chief of staff, Alfred Saucedo for their commitment to public service. Commissioners praised Shore for her work at the MWRD and as President Biden’s appointee as regional EPA administrator (2021-Jan. 2025). Among her accomplishments: creation of the pharmaceutical take back program, support of the Inspector General position at the MWRD, board member of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, and creator of Chicago Wilderness magazine. Commissioner Shore was known for her close questioning of MWRD business. Commissioner Davis stated that Shore and Saucedo were embodiments of public service at its best and that both remain actively engaged on environmental issues.    25-0843-#40  

Executive Session:    Session was held from 11:50 a.m. to 12:55 p.m.

Chairman Steele announced a 1:15 p.m. meeting for budget presentations.

In summary, most of the meeting was spent on public comments and the resolutions. There was no substantive discussion of any agenda item. No information on what was discussed in the executive session 

Observer: Georgia Gebhardt            

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​Thursday, September 18, 2025

Board Action:

• Item #20, 25-0689 accepted a contract for D & S Private Detective, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $259,999.80 to provide security for Fulton County Prairie Plan site. This site was a strip mine that is now being used to store bio-solids and also for research on phosphorus use. Tours are available for the public to see this site. 
• Item #22, 25-0693 promotes a 401(a) plan as an investment plan for employees to help with their pension.

Deferred or Deleted Agenda Items

• Item #19, 25-0679 for a flood control project on Central Road was deleted. 

New Business

• Discussion and promotion for the conference WEF Tech that is coming to the McCormick Center. The Water Environment Federation Conference will have people from around the world attend and discuss the future of water and it’s use in our lives. This conference goes from 9/27 to 10/1.
• Staff were commended on their drafting HB 2391 to harmonize MWRD’s authority for water reuse with the Illinois EPA.

​All Commissioners in Attendance.         No Executive Session               Meeting Time: 50 minutes

Observer: Peggy Kell 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)
Board Meeting,
April 3, 2025
 
After unsuccessful negotiations with the Cook County Office of the Independent Inspector General to renew its Intergovernmental Agreement for investigative services, the MWRD moved ahead to establish its own office and prepare to begin a search for an experienced person to lead the department.  The board also approved the appointment of retired Cook County Inspector General, Patrick Blanchard, to work for the MWRD as the Interim Inspector General.   Mr. Blanchard was in charge of the MWRD’s IIG responsibilities under the intergovernmental agreement until his retirement in late 2023.                                Items #2&3  25-0277, 025-010

Other Items of Interest

• The board approved advertising for very high-skilled laboratories to respond to the MWRD’s request for analysis of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances and absorbable organic fluorine in wastewater samples.  Will also test biosolids.  Commissioner Steele said that only the best of the best labs can do this right now; which, down the road, might be worth bringing in-house.  Commissioner Waller made several requests of a technical nature, and President Steele asked that Waller send her an email containing both her requests and her comments.   #12 25-2406
• At the March 20, 2025, Commissioner Garcia deferred two furnish and deliver contracts asking that Procurement look to see if the contracts can be “unbundled” to allow for small minority and women owned businesses to compete.  At this meeting, he voted to approved the contracts after hearing that neither unbundling or changing from one to a two-year contract to meet the dollar threshold for furnish and deliver contracts to come under the diversity requirements of the District were not practical in this instance.  President Steele said that this long-time vendor for the glass and plastic labware was very good.  Garcia asked for an analysis over a 10-year period on whether prices change that much from year to year.          #22&23  25-0226, 25-0236
• Several 2024 excellence awards were received in financial reporting, budgeting, retirement fund and its health care fund.
  

New Business

• President Steele announced that 2025 is the 5th year of MWRD’s current Strategic Plan and that Interim Executive Director, John Murray, will roll out a plan in May to start the process of developing the next five-year plan.
  

Deleted or Deferred Agenda Items 

• Interim Executive Director Murray deleted Item #34-0273 which is the authority to negotiate an intergovernmental Agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority for the Red Line Extension Project.

NO Executive Session        

​Observed by:  Diane Edmundson                  Meeting Length:  63 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting –
March 6, 2025

PFAS Toxins (Bio-solids disposal) 
Commissioner Dr. Sharon Waller pulled three items from the consent agenda for public discussion and asked they be considered together. All  are linked to the District’s regular disposal of sewage by-products (biosolids) containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).  
PFAS are commonly known as “forever chemicals.” The three items were:

• Item #17. 25-0118 (deferred from February 20th meeting).
• Staff sought authority to pay Synagro Central, LLC (an Agricultural resource company) $3.8 million to remove, transport, distribute and use air dried solid by-products from the Stickney and Calumet wastewater treatment plants.  
• Item #19. 25-0168. In a similar request staff asked for approval to pay Stewart Spreading, Inc. $29.1 million to remove air dried solid by-products from the Stickney and Calumet wastewater treatment plants.
• Item #18. 25-0166. This item awards $3.8 million to McGill Construction for heavy equipment and operators. The contract includes the use of minority subcontractors. It appears the men and equipment will  load the PFAS-affected biosolids into trucks for transport.

During discussion:

• Commissioner Waller noted the District produces 150,000 dry tons of biosolids each year and she would like to see the MWRD end current practice of land application of sludge products on farm fields. Her constituents are concerned about this issue. She’d like the agency to adopt a policy to reuse water and solids after treatment.  Current practice of selling biosolids for application on farmland meets “evolving” EPA regulations, but change is needed. She requested roll call vote on items 17 and 19.   
• Commissioner Davis agreed the District needs a solution to the biosolids disposal issue and asked when a Black & Veech engineering report commissioned in July 2024 would be available to the Board.  Executive Director Perkovich replied the consulting contract goes through 2026, and that preliminary results might not be available until late 2025. Operations Director John Murray said the Biosolids removal “season” begins in late March and early April, and encouraged the Board to approve the items and allow staff to answer questions later.
• Commissioner Corral-Sepulveda said the Board has been waiting for  Federal direction on how to proceed with this issue—an EPA mandate. It doesn’t appear that’s coming. The District needs a contingency plan, which is the point of the engineering study.  Without information from the study, the Board doesn’t have new options.
• President Steele Directed Mr. Perkovich to transmit to the Board a report on the  information the District currently has on the solids disposal issue.
• After a roll call vote, Items 17 and 19 were passed 8 to 1; Commissioner Waller voted no on each item. Item 18 passed with all commissioners voting yes.

Industrial pollution settlement deferred

• Item #25. 25-0154 The MWRD legal department presented the Board with an Amended Agreed Order of Settlement in a case of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago v. Electronic Plating Co. 
• Commissioner Davis deferred the item, saying the settlement raises concerns voiced at earlier meetings by several commissioners about the District’s penalty process.  He noted that Electronic Plating was a chronic offender – 27 violations over a decade. Given the District’s cap on penalties, he suggested circuit court as an effective deterrent.    

Executive Director Perkovich to retire April 1

• Item #32. 25-0196. The Board approved without discussion a motion to appoint John Murray as Acting Executive Director.  There was not a formal announcement, but Commissioners mentioned during the meeting that Mr.  Perkovich would retire April 1.

St. Patrick’s Day resolutions and labor recognition:

• The morning’s meeting opened with a 16-minute celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and recognition of the Irish heritage of the many labor unions that helped build and maintain the MWRD’s infrastructure.  
• Vice President Flynn introduced James Coyne, business manager of Plumber’s local 130 and Chair of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  Mr. Coyne entertained the Board with the Parade’s history and introduced the 2025 Parade Queen and her court.  The celebrants were piped in and out of the meeting by the Shannon Rovers Pipe Band in full regalia. The Board passed 2 Resolutions related to St. Patrick’s Day, and President Steele introduced more than a dozen leaders of various local unions who were in attendance.

Observer: Laurie Morse                       Meeting length: 2 hours and 23 minutes including executive session.