Chicago-based real estate development firm, Sterling Bay, along with project partners, V3 Companies, R.W. Collins Co., TRS Group and Heneghan Wrecking, has announced it has successfully remediated over 54 million pounds of polluted soil at Lincoln Yards, the 53-acre mixed-use development along the North Branch of the Chicago River that will transform industrial brownfields into a new, active riverfront community featuring over 20 acres of new public open space.
To date, Sterling Bay, at its own expense, has invested $9M to successfully complete the following cleanup efforts at Lincoln Yards:
- Removed over 27,700 tons of environmentally impacted soil
- Remediated 7.2 tons of TSCA hazardous PCB contaminated soil
- Remediated over 1,060 yards of hazardous lead
- Removed 36 underground storage tanks
- Recycled over 69,000 tons of concrete
- Recycled over 4,600 tons of steel
- Remediated 11.5 tons of hazardous TCE contaminated soil
- Extracted 1,800 pounds of TCE-based solvents using innovative in situ thermal remediation technology
In addition to requiring significant environmental remediation, much of the existing utility infrastructure at the site was built at a time when standards for conserving energy and managing water quality did not exist as they do today.
Sterling Bay is addressing this and working to meet the City of Chicago’s goals for sustainable development by pursuing LEED-ND certification for the entire Lincoln Yards development. Once complete, Lincoln Yards will incorporate high performance sustainable design, serving as a model for the regeneration of other industrial sites along the Chicago River.
