About the Bloomington Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP)

History of the Bloomington MGP

Historic Bloomington MGP

The Bloomington Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) was active from 1883 to 1951 to provide gas for lighting, heating and cooking. Northern Illinois Gas (now Nicor Gas) acquired the property in 1955 and used it as a regional reporting center for natural gas distribution operations. In 1994, Nicor Gas moved its reporting center to its current location at 1305 Martin Luther King Drive on Bloomington’s west side.

The MGP included three gas holders, a condenser and purifier building, an underground storage tank, purifier area, tar tanks, retort area, tar wells and an aboveground oil tank.

Currently the Bloomington MGP property and the neighboring Ciba-Geigy property are vacant and owned by Nicor Gas.

Bloomington MGP Activities

Nicor Gas has hired experienced environmental engineering firms to perform environmental studies. The studies were conducted on the Bloomington MGP and surrounding properties. MGP residuals were found on the Bloomington site and adjacent properties. Nicor Gas purchased the adjacent industrial property from Ciba-Geigy, just west of Gas Avenue, in order to clean up MGP residuals that had migrated to that property.

Former Ciba-Geigy Property

The studies found remnants of MGP structures below ground on the MGP property. Laboratory samples have confirmed the presence of MGP residuals in soil and shallow groundwater, including: various volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals and other inorganic materials. Because the MGP residuals are beneath the ground and are covered by vegetation and soil, asphalt, and/or structures, people are not in contact with them. The community’s water supply is not affected and there are no private wells in the area that would be affected.

Gas holder excavation during the MGP structure removal activities

• Soil was removed from the northwest corner of the Bloomington Housing Authority (BHA) property so that BHA and volunteers could establish a community garden. The area was cleaned up to Illinois EPA’s most stringent standards. The clean soil used to backfill that area after the MGP residuals were removed is safe for growing food. Illinois EPA has issued a No Further Remediation letter for that area.

Grading the BHA community garden

Completed BHA community garden

• Nicor Gas installed underground containment barriers to approximately 20 feet below the ground surface to limit migration of remaining materials around the Bloomington MGP and areas to the west and northwest.

• An electric-resistive treatment system and extraction equipment were installed on the former industrial property just west of the Bloomington MGP. This system was designed to heat the tar found approximately 20 feet underground, thereby making it easier to remove. The system successfully removed liquid tar from the property.

Containment wall installation

Electrical resistive treatment system and extraction equipment

• Nicor Gas excavated material and soil from the BHA and McLean County Asphalt properties and transported it to a licensed waste disposal facility. Confirmation samples were collected after excavation to demonstrate that cleanup objectives were met. The properties were backfilled with clean materials, including topsoil, and grass seed was planted.

• Nicor Gas demolished the two remaining vacant buildings in preparation for the current cleanup phase.

Reports are submitted to the Illinois EPA for review, evaluation and approval, as required by the voluntary Site Remediation Program. Once site cleanup is completed, Nicor Gas will apply to the Illinois EPA for regulatory closure of the site, primarily through a No Further Remediation (NFR) letter. Illinois EPA issues NFR letters when it determines that parties have successfully demonstrated, through proper investigation and cleanup actions, that environmental conditions at the site do not present a risk to human health or the environment. The NFR letter is filed with the county office that maintains property transfer records so that future landowners and others are aware that the property has been cleaned up.

For information about the next phase of the Bloomington MGP Cleanup Project, click here.