March 13 open house to address cleanup of Avon Street manufactured gas plant

Online Staff Report

ComEd will host an informational open house to explain the environmental cleanup of a historic former manufactured gas plant (MGP) at 310 S. Avon St. (ComEd’s former regional operations complex).

The open house will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, at Ellis Arts Academy, 222 S. Central Ave., Rockford.

The open house will provide local residents an opportunity to obtain additional information about the historical significance of former MGP plants and the remediation work that will be done at the site.

The purpose of ComEd’s environmental cleanup is to remove residues from the gas manufacturing process that remain underground. Representatives of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be present at the open house to discuss the state’s role in overseeing the project.

The MGP at the Avon Street site operated for 48 years between 1899 and 1947. An office and warehouse building at the northwest corner of the site constructed in the early 1950s will be razed as part of the remediation. Work at the site will begin later this spring and will be performed under the oversight of the Illinois EPA as part of its Site Remediation Program.

Posted March 12, 2012