Oil depot proposed in Lockport

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Lockport resident Sandy Burcenski is opposed to a proposal for a crude-oil depot on the former Texaco property. | Matthew Grotto~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 16, 2012 8:25AM

Lockport’s planning and zoning commission is supporting plans for a crude-oil depot on the former Texaco property.

Commissioners voted 7-0 last week to recommend that the city council approve the concept plan. Aldermen intend to discuss the plan at Wednesday’s council meeting.

Texaco operated an oil refinery just northwest of downtown Lockport for seven decades, ending in 1981. Now, a contract purchaser, Cogent Energy Solutions LLC, has submitted plans for a crude-oil depot on about 15 acres now owned by Chevron.

Crude oil would be brought in by rail and piped to new tanks similar to the existing tanks owned by Shell Pipeline Co. A rail spur is proposed for the development.

Lockport resident Sandy Burcenski lives just south of the former Texaco property and has been a watchdog on the site’s redevelopment for many years.

During a 1996 flood, Burcenski’s basement and yard filled with water. For several years, she has expressed concerns that any stormwater running off a redeveloped Texaco property would flood her neighborhood.

At Tuesday’s meeting, she and several other residents urged the planning and zoning commission not to recommend the oil depot. A crowd of about 100 attended the meeting.

Burcenski also said she fears the redevelopment could bring more heavy industry to the city’s west side.

“If approved, you are setting a precedent for future development that possibly could include an intermodal with trucks,” she told commissioners. “... I believe that if the viability of the west side is lost or compromised, it will affect the future success of your downtown redevelopment and also affect property values throughout the city of Lockport.”