Environmental Cleanup Information for the Rochelle Manufactured Gas Plant in Rochelle, Illinois
Rochelle MGP
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For more information about the Rochelle MGP Environmental Cleanup Project, please contact the project team at info@rochellesite.info or click here or contact Kevin Gadzala, Nicor Gas Regional Manager, Community Affairs at 224-227-5594.
This project is being conducted in cooperation with, and with oversight by, the Illinois EPA through its voluntary Site Remediation Program. For more information about this program, please visit https://epa.illinois.gov/topics/cleanup-programs/srp.html.
For more information on the Illinois EPA’s role in the Rochelle MGP Environmental Cleanup Project, please contact Sabrina Bailey, Office of Community Relations, Illinois EPA at 312-832-2162 or sabrina.bailey@illinois.gov
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Nicor Gas, in cooperation with the City of Rochelle, developed a cleanup plan to restore the property to current environmental standards. Soil exceeding Illinois EPA standards will be removed using a combination of excavation methods, safely loaded into trucks and disposed of at a licensed waste disposal facility. The excavation will be backfilled with clean material and the property will be restored. (Click here for more information about current activities.)
Rochelle MGP Site Cleanup
Nicor Gas is providing this website to keep the community informed about the Rochelle Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Environmental Cleanup Project.
Nicor Gas is conducting an environmental cleanup project at the location of a former MGP in Rochelle, Illinois. MGPs once manufactured gas from coal, coke and/or oil to serve the community’s energy needs. The former Rochelle MGP was located at 208 2nd Avenue in Rochelle, Illinois on property currently owned by Nicor Gas and the City of Rochelle. (Click here for more information about the former Rochelle MGP.)
Supplies of natural gas were not always available in Illinois. Prior to the mid-1900s, MGPs provided gas for lighting, cooking, heating and industrial applications. When natural gas became available in the mid-1900s, the MGPs closed. Sometimes residuals associated with the manufactured gas process remain at the production sites. (Click here for more information about MGPs).
Nicor Gas has an environmental program in place to address the residuals from the manufactured gas process. Engineering firms have performed environmental studies at the former Rochelle MGP in areas where historical maps indicated remnants of the gas plant structures might remain below ground. The studies found MGP residuals in those areas.
The project is being conducted in cooperation with, and with oversight by, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) through its voluntary Site Remediation Program (SRP). Through the SRP, the Illinois EPA reviews and approves the cleanup work.