La Salle mayor accuses Peru of using ‘dumping as leverage’ to gain cement company’s 50 acres

Peru officials tried to annex 50 acres of a local cement company’s land from La Salle in exchange for covering $282,000 in damages following a sewer break, La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove alleged Monday.

Mertel Gravel Co. filed paperwork on Aug. 4 in an attempt to de-annex 50 acres of land Mertel owns, which lies within La Salle’s jurisdiction, into Peru. Mertel rescinded the de-annexation paperwork on Sept. 12, records show.

Grove alleged Peru told Mertel its cement dumping in a ravine south of La Salle-Peru High School contributed to a sewer break there that caused its water to turn black and the air to be filled with a raw sewage odor. Peru said it would not make Mertel pay for damages if the company de-annexed the 50-acre parcel of land it owns from La Salle into Peru, Grove alleged. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has said the sewer break was not caused by dumping there.

“I believe it’s important to have conversations like these in the public setting, so that our constituents can see their government operate as transparently as possible,” Grove said during the council meeting Monday.

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski deferred comment Monday night to Scott Schweickert, Peru’s corporate counsel. Schweickert said he didn’t wish to make a comment on the allegations at this time.

The 50-acre parcel is valued by both cities for the potential development space it offers within the Route 251 business district. Grove said in his statement Monday the parcel “has the potential to increase property taxes, sales tax and jobs” for the city the parcel resides in, whether that’s La Salle or Peru.

On Sept. 14, 2021, the city of Peru was notified of a sewer overflow at the ravine. Multiple eyewitnesses said they saw the company’s cement trucks’ mixing tanks being washed out into the ravine on multiple occasions, according to a Peru police report.

The IEPA became involved because the sewer break caused an overflow. The IEPA cited Peru with a violation notice and conducted an inspection of the sewer, determining a blockage to be the cause of the problem, not illegal dumping.

The IEPA, however, has said the dumping of cementdid not cause the sewer break, but it made it difficult to access the area to clear the blockage.

The NewsTribune reached out to Mertel for comment and did not receive a response.

Despite the IEPA’s finding, Schweickert said the city has been investigating illegal dumping contributing to the sewer break for some time.

“It’s a contested dispute and we’re trying to solve it with Mertel directly,” Schweickert said in an interview on Friday before Grove made his statement. Schweickert added the company has been cooperative and the parties are close to a resolution.

The property southwest of the 50-acre parcel, and directly connected to it, is listed in Schweickert’s name, according to La Salle County records.

On July 5, the Peru City Council approved and paid for the sewer to be repaired by construction company J.W Ossola for $282,771. Grove said Peru City Engineer Eric Carls confirmed the cost of the sewer repair was roughly $400,000.

The NewsTribune submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Peru seeking records to document the repairs’ cost. Records Peru released in response to the FOIA amount to $282,000. It was unclear why there was a discrepancy between the two amounts.

Schweickert didn’t comment on any of the allegations, including the discrepancy in the sewer repair cost.

In February, La Salle-Peru High School sold for $5,000 the small parcel of land to Mertel where the company allegedly dumped cement, according to a contract between Mertel and L-P High. The contract includes a clause on the environmental condition of the parcel, saying the school is not responsible for the “remediation of cement” on the property.

Mertel’s new lawyer, Jonathan Brandt, wrote a letter on Sept. 12 to La Salle’s City Attorney James McPhedran saying Mertel wanted to withdraw the de-annexation request, according to city records.

“(Mertel) told us had they known initially that agreeing to the city of Peru’s deal would negatively impact the relationship between the communities, they would not have explored that option in the first place,” Grove said.

Mertel rescinded the de-annexation paperwork but declined to take the clause out of its contract with La Salle that allows Mertel to de-annex from La Salle at any time.

“Ultimately, I am very glad Mertel Gravel has chosen to remain in La Salle and has respected the good working relationship we’ve had for many years,” Grove said. “It’s my hope the two of us can continue working together to properly market the parcel in the hopes it sees future development which will benefit both Mertel Gravel Co. and the city of La Salle.”