October 05, 2024
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Lockport oil terminal construction to begin this year

Five sunken barges will be removed from canal

By Bob Okon
A vacant grain silo along the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal and north of the 9th Street bridge in Lockport is one of two silos that will be town down for the Ducere oil terminal project. July 19, 2023.

A vacant grain silo along the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal and north of the 9th Street bridge in Lockport is one of two silos that will be town down for the Ducere oil terminal project. July 19, 2023. (Bob Okon)

Ducere LLC will tear down unused grain silos that are familiar sites to motorists using the 9th Street bridge as it builds an oil terminal in Lockport Township.

The silos are on a one-mile strip of land that lies between the Des Plaines River and Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, where five sunken barges also will be removed as the terminal is built. An unused grain operation is on each side of the bridge that crosses the waterway.

They’ve become hazards and eyesores, said Ducere President Dave Nelson.

The Will County Board last week approved special use permits needed by Warrenville-based Ducere to begin construction on the site.

“[The silos] have been there for a long time,” Nelson said Monday. ”The concern we have is that what happens is there are kids who have been climbing to the top and painting them.”

The grain silos south of the 9th Street bridge in Lockport Township are rusting away. Ducere LLC will tear down the grainery as it builds an oil terminal on the site. July 19, 2023.

The grain silos south of the 9th Street bridge in Lockport Township are rusting away. Ducere LLC will tear down the grainery as it builds an oil terminal on the site. (Bob Okon)

Tagging the silos has become a dangerous challenge and will be replaced by the oil terminal business that some nearby residents opposed out of concern that the operation itself could pose an environmental hazard. However, the County Board vote was 15-4 for the special use permits that were the last approvals needed by Ducere for its project.

The topic of the submerged barges was brought up before the county board vote.

“Some of them you could see they were tied off, and they were there so long they just sunk,” Nelson said. “The cables are still attached.”

The sunken barges are out of the navigation path on the canal but would interfere with terminal operations, he said.

The strip of land land is owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Ducere will lease the property for its terminal.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District operates the Lockport Powerhouse on the south end of the strip of land and also has operations on the north end. The land also includes the Lockport Lock and Dam operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Ducere plans to begin construction this year but has not set a start date. Nelson said it will take a year to build the terminal.

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