Northwestern’s plan to fill in one-fifth of the Lagoon could be delayed for at least four months after two state and federal agencies asked the university to obtain additional permits for the project.
NU received separate letters last week from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting that the university halt the project until permits allowing for construction on Lake Michigan are given approval, said Alan Cubbage, vice president of university relations.
Cubbage said the university plans to comply with the requests, but officials with the Corps said approval of their permit could take up to four months, delaying construction until at least July.
A 1961 state law allowing NU to begin waterfront construction on the Lagoon and Lakefill area stipulated that any additional fill in future years must first be approved by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. NU administrators, notified of the law by the organization last week, had not discussed the project with them.
Administrators asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a year ago if they would need a permit from them for the project, but Corps officials told them it was unnecessary because the Lagoon was not a part of Lake Michigan. Corps officials originally thought the Lakefill constituted a dug structure, which does not fall under their jurisdiction, said Karon Marzec, a regulatory permit manager for the Corps.
But Corps officials changed their minds after reviewing the 1961 law and photos of the original Lakefill construction sent by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Marzec said.
While the university could stop construction plans for now, Cubbage said administrators will review whether they need approval from the Corps before submitting an application for the permit.
If NU does apply, Marzec said it might take at least four months to approve the permit and the wait might be “significantly longer.” In compliance with the permit, NU must hold a public comment session for 30 days and then has another 30 days to respond to any concerns.
“The public comments have to provide something that shows there really is something environmentally incorrect with the material that we’re given,” in order for the permit to be denied, said Marzec, who would handle the permit process. “Just because people don’t like it or they don’t like where it is doesn’t mean we wouldn’t give them a permit.”
Under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the Corps oversees all the water of Lake Michigan and is responsible for approving any new construction.
“That’s navigable waters of the United States,” Marzec said. “You can’t put a barge in there, and you can’t do recreational boating, but since it’s part of the original bed of Lake Michigan, it remains under our (jurisdiction).”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources also requested that administrators apply for a construction permit in conjunction with the state’s Environmental Protection Agency. The department is asking for information about the fill and the type of construction that will be done, spokesman Tim Schweizer said.
The IEPA plans to further investigate the environmental aspects of the project, even though NU already received a permit from the agency in October, Schweizer said. IEPA officials were unavailable for comment Monday afternoon.
While the plan received permit approval from Evanston last week, Cubbage said other issues have arisen regarding the project, including defining a specific transportation route for the fill and where the fill will come from.
“All that sort of takes a back seat to this latest wrinkle,” Cubbage said. “We’ve got to work through the permit issues first.”
