Category: Environmental Cleanup

MWRD Board Holds 2 Special Meetings to Interview Candidates for the District’s Executive Director Position

10/31/2025

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
October 16, 2025

Special meetings: 2 special meetings of the Board
The Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago meet twice, once in the afternoon of October 16 and also on the morning of October 17th. The purpose of both meetings was to consider candidates to fill the vacancy in the office of MWRD Executive Director. The meetings were called to order and immediately closed for executive sessions. No action was taken by the Board following either executive session. The district is currently led by interim Executive Director John Murray. The previous Executive, Brian Perkovich, retired.

Board Action on October 16 at scheduled Board Meeting

Stormwater:

Item #39 25-0778 The Board agreed without discussion to pay the City of Markham to acquire a flood-prone property in an amount not to exceed $450,000.
Item #28 25-0773 The Board approved without discussion a contract with the engineering firm Bowman Consulting to design a flood control project in Northfield township in an amount not to exceed $2.2 million. That stormwater project, approved previously, will address a 3-mile corridor extending from Glenwood Ave. in Glenview to the Chicago River near Oakton Community College. It is intended to provide flood relief for 114 single and multi-family residences.

Real Estate:

Item #15 25-0752 Authorization to accept initial annual rental bid by Sanchez Group to lease 13 acres of District lands bordering the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near the Stickney water treatment plant for a 39-year term for $396,084. This item was pulled for discussion by Commissioner Brady-Davis, who asked staff what benefit could come from allowing such a lengthy lease and how would the rent be adjusted during the least term? Staff replied that long-term leases were preferred so tenants could invest in improvements on the land. MWRD attorney Susan Morakalis explained rents are adjusted annually with the Consumer Price Index as benchmark and the property value is re-assessed every ten years. The item was returned to the consent agenda.
Item #19 25-0751 The Board authorized without discussion the sale of less than an acre of District land located at 6861 North Milwaukee Avenue in Niles, Illinois, setting a minimum sale price of $92,130. The parcel is part of the former Niles pumping station near the Des Plaines River.

Large purchases:

Item 25 25-0753 The Board approved without discussion awarding Kemira Water Solutions, Inc. a contract for $21.6 million to furnish and deliver to the District an unspecified amount of Ferric Chloride. The chemical is used in wastewater treatment for phosphate precipitation and as a coagulant as well as for odor control.

Forever Chemicals:

Item 33 25-0745. Authority to increase Contract 25-105-11 Laboratory Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Adsorbable Organic Fluorine in Wastewater samples to Enthalpy Analytical, LLC in an amount of $36,300 from $63,500 to an amount not to exceed $99,800. Commissioner Waller pulled this item from the agenda for discussion. She praised staff and the district for continuing to pursue research and sampling for PFAS chemicals and said that she looks forward to the ability for in-house testing with reports available to the public. The item was then returned to the consent agenda.

New Business:

President Steele told the Board plans were being made for celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, with details available soon.
Commissioner Davis thanked staff for their work in a ground-breaking wetland mitigation project in Sauk Village in Chicago’s southern suburbs.
The Water Reuse Association of Illinois recognized Commission Waller for her passion in the pursuit of a controlling IL law that will allow expanded re-use of treated water. The MWRD was given an award for its collective efforts.

Observer: Laurie Morse Commissioner Garcia absent Meeting length: 32 minutes

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MWRD Thanked for Helping to Make the Chicago River Clean Enough for Swimming

9/12/2025

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
August 14, 2025

In opening public comments, Tessa Murray of the Friends of the Chicago River announced the first annual Chicago River Open Water Swim, slated for September 21, and sponsored by the Friends. She thanked the Board for the vision and investment of the MWRD for making the river clean enough for human contact, saying even a decade ago such an event would have been unthinkable at a time when people considered the River an extension of the sewer system. She credited new EPA water quality standards enacted in 2018 and the MWRD’s compliance as instrumental in creating conditions allowing the first Chicago River swimming event in more than a century. She said access to swimmable rivers enhances recreation opportunities for all urban residents. In addition to swimming, the cleaner river now boasts 77 different species of fish.

Agenda Items Discussed

Commissioner Davis pulled agenda item 2. 25-0631 asking for a roll call vote and saying he intended to vote no on a motion to hire David Ormsby, Inc as public relations consultant for an additional year at a cost not to exceed $48,000. In discussion Commissioner Davis and Commissioner Waller said they thought the District would benefit from someone with different skills in this position. Commissioner Flynn countered, saying the firm was qualified. The motion passed, with Davis the only Commissioner to vote no.
Commissioner Davis also pulled agenda item 14. 25-0621 which authorized paying annual membership dues of $35,000 to the Chicago Area Waterways Chloride Workgroup. The Commissioner understood this was to be a temporary working group, and asked when it’s work, and the need for dues, would end. Staff explained the importance of the MWRD’s lead working with municipalities reducing salt impacts on waterways, and acting Executive Director Murray said he expected to group to continue indefinitely. The item was returned to the agenda and approved.
Commissioner Garcia pulled item 39. 25-647-11, a $1.2 million dollar boiler service contract without discussion, and asked for its deferral. The deferral passed in a roll call vote.

Items approved without discussion:
Stormwater Management

Item 17. 25-0590 The Board agreed to seek bids to purchase Rain Barrels at an estimated cost of $450,000.
Item 40. 25-0578 The Board awarded a $2.2 million contract to construct a Green Schoolyard Pilot project at Burnham Elementary School to Foundation Mechanics LLC and other partners. The project, which combines stormwater management with a new playground in Burham, was approved to go out for bid at the October 17, 2024 Board meeting.
Item 18. 25-0593 The Board agreed to seek bids to rehabilitate the Upper Des Plaines Intercepting Sewer at a cost between $16.1 and 19.5 million dollars.

Pollution Control-Phosphorus Removal

Item 48. 25-0609 The Board agreed to increase the amount of a previously contract award to IHC Construction Companies LLC to modify phosphorus removal equipment at Battery D of the O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant, to $15.5 million from the previous $15.4 million; an increase of $117,170,72.

New Business

President Steele announced three ribbon-cutting events celebrating MWRD project completions, including a dam removal at Salt Creek in DuPage County; completion of a new levy providing flood relief to 29 structures in Glenwood; and green alley stormwater management projects in Markham.

Observer: Laurie Morse No Executive Session Held All 9 commissioners in attendance

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MWRD Board Quickly Deals with Agenda

7/1/2025

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting
June 26, 2025

In 30 minutes, the Board dealt with the 29 agenda items with some limited discussion.
Absent: Commissioners Precious Brady-Davis and Yumeka Brown.

Items deleted (no reason stated) from the agenda by Acting Executive Director Murphy:

A proposal to enter into a Collaborative Research Project with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne pursuant to a Master Agreement on the Environmental Benefits and Use of Biosolids for Production of Industrial Hemp with an estimated cost of $90,261. File 25-0473, Agenda # 15.
A proposed purchase order for Laboratory Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Adsorbable Organic Fluorine in Wastewater Samples to Enthalpy Analytical for up to $63,500. File 25-0495, Agenda #20.

Items deferred:

Comm. Waller deferred the Authority to advertise a furnishing and delivering contract for ferric chloride with an estimated cost of $22.5 M. She is looking for a comparison report to be provided. President Steele confirmed with Mr. Murphy that this deferral would not delay any testing. File 25-0485, Agenda #11.
Commissioner Garcia deferred the item to increase a contract with Michels Trenchless for 39th Street Conduit Rehabilitation by an amount of $1.25 M. File 25-0490, Agenda # 25.

The remaining 25 items were approved, with 2 discussed:

Comm. Waller asked about the recent history of compliance with the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) by Tradebe Environmental Services which is to provide hazardous waste disposal from various MWRD locations under a new contract. Assurances were given that while there had been some violations, these were relatively minor and the vendor had fully cooperated with the EPA. File 25-0488, Agenda # 22.
Comm. Davis asked for a sense of when, after negotiations, the intergovernmental agreements would be signed and projects commenced for the stormwater partnership projects submitted by municipalities that made the list of possible projects. Mr. Murphy said the next step will be to come to the Board for approval to negotiate agreements and hopefully some of these will move toward construction within a year. File 25-0491, Agenda # 28.

New Business:

Vice President Flynn promoted “Plastic-free July” at the MWRD.
President Steele announced that Comm. Brady-Davis would be attending a Harvard Executive Program in July.

There was no Executive Session.

Observer: Priscilla Mims

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ETHOS Requests Soil Testing at Old US Steel Site

5/20/2025

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD)
Board of Commissioners Meeting
May 15, 2025
Public Speakers

Speakers from the Calumet Harbor area environmental group, ETHOS, asked the MWRD to monitor water pollution issues that could occur at the old US Steel site at 8080 S. Lake Shore Drive. The last EPA soil tests are from the 1990s. The group wants to get updated testing on the soil and is concerned that disturbing the soil during construction will lead to massive air and water contamination.

Agenda Items Discussed

Com. Waller pulled items #11&12, 25-0349, 25-0351 to make sure that when the MWRD hires attorneys to begin the process of eminent domain in flood areas, that they are required to do community engagement plans that include small group education, in addition to town hall-style meetings. Director Murray assured them that MWRD requires small breakout groups to give community residents a chance to ask questions before a larger meeting occurs. He will forward communication plans.
Coms. Brady-Davis and Waller discussed item #28 25-0365, The Bally’s casino development at the old Chicago Tribune plant on the Chicago River. Com. Waller was concerned about ensuring public access and emergency egress, while Com. Brady-Davis was thankful that the MWRD was proactive at the site. Director Murray said this is not MWRD land and so it has no Chicago River jurisdiction other than to protect MWRD infrastructure.
Coms. Davis and Waller discussed item#32, 25-0398, the sub-lease of land by Lakeshore Recycling Systems to ORA composting. Com. Davis was concerned that ORA could be an SIU (significant industrial user of water), while Com. Waller wanted to make sure emergency egress was possible at the site. Director Murray assured her that a marina was adjacent to the site. The board will be apprised of water usage by ORA.

Stormwater Management

Passed without comment were 15 intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) for stormwater management through green alley re-pavement and roads with Arlington Heights, Berwyn, Calumet City, Cicero, Countryside, Forest Park, Glenview, LaGrange Park, Lyons, Markham, Maywood, Oak Park, River Forest, River Grove, and Westchester.
The board also passed an IGA with the Forest Preserve for land acquisition, concept planning, and engineering for a multi-benefit flood control project located in Southeast Cook County

New Business

Com. Waller announced the PFAS regulation bill moved from the house to the senate, HB 2516, with Julie Morrison as sponsor. She urged people to call their senators to get the bill passed.
Com. Davis announced the Federal cuts by 90% to EPA Clean Water Revolving Funds ($3billion).

No Executive Session Held All 9 commissioners in attendance
Observer: Amy Little

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MWRD Board Receives Positive Report On Retirement Fund

7/22/2022

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
July 14, 2022

James Mohler, President of the MWRD Retirement Fund, had good news for the MWRD Board on the status of the Retirement Fund at the end of 2021:

Both the actuarial and market value of the assets achieved record highs.
The actuarial funding ratio continued to improve to 58.7%, up from 57.3% in 2020 and 50.4% ten years ago.
The net pension liability dropped by $224 M over the last 3 years.
The Fund’s annual net rate of return has exceeded the Actuarial Assumed Rate of Return over the last 3 years, and has a cumulative 3-year return of 14.2%.
Of particular importance to Mr. Mohler, the Investment Expense Ratio dropped by 10 points, saving approximately $1.6 M in yearly expenses.
Mr. Mohler also noted that the Fund is above the MWBE utilization targets.

Nevertheless, Mr. Mohler stated that there are future challenges that include

Growing annual operating cash flow deficits, projected to be close to 7% of Fund Reserves in 5 years.
Continued elevated numbers of retirements which result in cash going out vs. lower numbers of new employees being hired who pay into the Fund.
Future market corrections (such as what is being experienced now) can reduce the Reserves.

Mr. Mohler praised the Board for its additional contributions over what the Actuarial Determined Contribution over the past several years. Those additional contributions have been rewarding. (Agenda Item 42, No. 22-0630)

Board Action:

All items on the Consent Agenda were passed with one exception.
Commissioner Corral Sepulveda deferred Agenda Item 15 at the request of Commissioner Garcia, who was absent. This item is an authorization to make payment to Current Innovation, NFP for the 2022 annual membership dues of up to $100,000. (No. 22-0625)

Board Discussion:

Commissioner Davis raised questions regarding Agenda Item 26, and continued the discussion regarding Item 35, as to how the MWRD staff determines when to reject a bid as being too high as compared to the contract estimate in this time of fast rising prices due to inflation and supply chain issues. Item 26 was authority to issue purchase order to the low bidder for furnishing electric motors, pumps, drives, breakers and transformers at locations under Group B. Such bid was 11% below the contract estimate. Single bids received for Groups A and C were rejected as too high as they were 46% and 113% over the contract estimates, respectively. No bid was received for Group D. (No.22-0628)
Director Perkovich said that in this case, one of the considerations by staff is that there was a single bidder for Groups A and C. The overall consideration is whether staff thinks that by rebidding the contract (and possibly tweaking it to entice more bidders) future bids will come in lower than the bids being rejected.

New Business:

Commissioner Perry asked that the Board do more to publicize PFAS (polyfluoralkyl substances found in chemicals which may pose health problems) and what the MWRD is doing about them. President Steele asked her to take the lead on working with Public Affairs. Director Perkovich said that these PFAS are a national project and that it makes more sense to deal with the source, rather than trying to remove them from water.
Commissioner Davis thanked staff for unbundling a contract so that it can be rebid in multiple parts. He said such unbundling both provides a safety net if the price of the items goes up and increases the likelihood of MWBE participants.
Commissioner Davis also verified the dates for developing the Board’s legislative agenda for 2023.
Commissioner Corral Sepulveda thanked the Board for the opportunity to represent it at a Water and Waste Management Conference in Thailand. She said she is hoping to follow-up by having Thai officials come here, particularly the Education Minister so the MWRD can learn more about that Minister’s efforts to engage youth in water management issues.

Observer: Priscilla Mims

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Ethics Ordinance Approved by MWRD Board

1/28/2021

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 21, 2021

The meeting was to begin at 10:30 but was delayed for 15 minutes due to Com. McGowan’s having technical issues with her zoom software’s ability to mute and unmute. The meeting began in earnest shortly before 11 am.

Public Comment

Jen Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council, was the only public comment speaker. Her comments addressed the Ethics ordinance that MWRD has been working on for almost a year. She worried that $150 lobbying fees were still quite high for non-profit organizations like the Friends of the Chicago River to afford. She pointed out that technical assistance offered to the MWRD should not be considered “lobbying”, and she worried that legal requests to the MWRD would now be considered “lobbying”. She indicated that other Cook County governments have a more streamlined lobbying definition.

Board Discussion/Action
Commissioners asked for a number of items to be discussed, but in the end, there were three significant discussions:

Item 34-21-0081 was singled out by Debra Shore for discussion. This contract had to do with drop shafts for TARP (Tunnel and Reservoir Plan) control in prairie restoration areas. According to an environmental group doing restoration work there was heavy damage from gravel surges out of the drop shafts that damaged deer control fences and prairie plantings. Com. Shore requested closer supervision from MWRD personnel for remediation by the contractor. She also requested that plainer English be used so that the public understands what a “hydraulic transient surge event” might mean. Habitat restoration is important and she requested the contract increase be deferred until staff could investigate. Unanimous approval to defer.
Item 39-21-0037: Authority was being sought once again to lease 21+ acres of Cal-Sag Channel Parcel in Alsip to be used to construct a parking lot for semi-trucks. (This item had been deferred from January 7 meeting.) Coms. Shore, Davis, and Sepulveda had singled out this item for discussion. The concern from Com. Shore was why in this time of climate change would the MWRD consider a 39 year lease for a diesel truck parking lot. Instead, she suggested that the MWRD should either seek a shorter lease or plan ahead for a better use regarding land for future climate change. Coms. Morita, Davis, and Sepulveda agreed that long term strategic planning was important in dealing with future climate change. Diesel truck traffic pollution is often located in areas where issues of environmental justice have long existed, like Alsip. Com. McGowan strongly urged that this was a local issue for Alsip to deal with, to decide what kinds of business they would allow, and what kind of environmental rules they would institute. Com. Garcia suggested that there needed to be a study session and the issue needed to be viewed as part of the MWRD strategic plan. The item was deferred to be discussed in a study session, unanimously.
The third discussion was about the ethics ordinance, Item 48-021-002. Inspector General Blanchard reminded the board of commissioners that the State of IL required a lobbying fee even for non-profits. Blanchard told them it would be easy to automatically remind lobbying groups that they needed to update their monthly reports and pay fees. It can be made user-friendly so as to allay fears of penalties imposed for forgetting to report contact. This was a fear brought up during public comment. The ordinance was finally passed by unanimous consent. Commissioners agreed to revisit the ordinance as necessary to make it friendly to the public.
Frank Avila, a retired MWRD commissioner, was appointed as a trustee to the MWRD retirement fund.

Amy Little, Observer

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MWRD Board Holds 2 Special Meetings to Interview Candidates for the District’s Executive Director Position

MWRD Thanked for Helping to Make the Chicago River Clean Enough for Swimming

MWRD Board Quickly Deals with Agenda

ETHOS Requests Soil Testing at Old US Steel Site

MWRD Board Receives Positive Report On Retirement Fund

Ethics Ordinance Approved by MWRD Board

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