Lockport Mulls Crude Oil Depot at Texaco Site

Three decades after operations ceased at Lockport’s Texaco refinery, the property could become home to a crude oil depot.

According to The Herald-News, Cogent Energy Solutions LLC has submitted concept plans to operate a crude oil depot on about 15 acres of the 580-acre site.

Lockport Mayor Dev Trivedi said Cogent intends to use railroad cars on both the BNSF and Canadian National lines to transfer fuel to tanks on the Lockport site. From there, it would be pumped to refineries. The depot would be on the western portion of the site, separate from the planned Star Business Park, Trivedi said.

The company plans to install a rail spur to the north of the site, connecting with the existing Canadian National tracks, plus an additional five tracks to store 29 to 34 rail cars, with the potential to add more storage tracks in the future, according to the Herald-News report.

Trivedi said Cogent’s plan would bring 40 new jobs to the site. In this economy, he added, any new jobs “should be taken as a blessing.”

If the project gets the OK, it would put the rail yard near a proposed Romeoville conservation area. The village is tentatively planning more than 400 acres of conservation land just south of the at 135^th Street and New Avenue. The land would extend all the way to the edge of the Texaco property.

Mayor John Noak said it’s been a long-term goal of the village to restore as much of the Des Plaines River and I&M Canal canal area as possible, with plans for preservation, pedestrian access and connectivity between the east and west sides of the river.

“The time to start planning for restoration is now,” Noak said, acknowledging that it will take years to come to fruition.

Plan faces opposition

An environmental group is opposed to the oil depot proposal, saying the site would bring increased freight traffic, truck traffic and pollution.

Citizens Against Ruining the Environment said the depot would bring thousands more freight and tank cars through the community each year, causing noise, pollution and groundwater issues.

Ellen Rendulich, the group's director, said members also fear it could deter other companies from setting up shop in the Star Business Park.

"We think it's going to have a negative affect on any future development," she said. "We want to see development—we're excited about that. [But] this is going to set a precedent as to what comes in after that. There's no good, clean industry that's going to come around this."

The group is urging residents to attend Tuesday’s Lockport Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, at Lockport City Hall, 222 E. 9^th St.

Trivedi said Cogent will make a presentation on its proposal during the meeting.

“It’s going to be an informational meeting,” Trivedi said, noting that a Village Board vote on the proposal has not been scheduled.

History of the site

According to the city of Lockport’s website, the Texaco refinery was built north of Thornton and Second streets and began operation in 1911.

The refinery closed in 1981, and most of the property was annexed into Lockport in 2000, followed by the “tank farm” portion of the site in 2008.

Today, the property is owned by Chevron, which merged with Texaco in 2001.

Trivedi said cleanup and remediation work has been completed on 100 acres, which is now home to the planned Star Business Park.

“We are looking forward to developing [the business park],” Trivedi said.