BRIDGEPORT — A $2.65 million plan to clean up and restore Bubbly Creek’s stinky and struggling ecosystem has been halted.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday it will end its efforts to possibly restore the polluted stretch of water where long-shuttered meatpacking plants once dumped dead livestock, grease and chemicals.
Though the Army Corps released a report recommending the pricey restoration in April, engineers recently learned of ongoing efforts by another company to clean up contaminants at former gas plants that once boomed in the area adjacent to Bubbly Creek.
Army Corps policy does not allow the restoration project to continue due to the contamination at the former plants.
It is unclear which company is involved in the cleanup that stopped the Army Corps' project, which planned to address issues like high erosion, poor water quality and lack of habitat for wildlife on nearby river banks.
Roy Beda, the Army Corps’ deputy for project management, said the best person to ask would be the Environmental Protection Agency. Contacted by DNAinfo Chicago, EPA officials were not immediately available Friday.
The Army Corps might not return to Bubbly Creek until at least the spring of next year, Beda said.
When the Army Corps released its report in April, the public was given the opportunity to comment. That’s when someone alerted the Army Corps about the ongoing cleanup — known in engineering circles as “remediation."
“The confirmation of the ongoing remediation activities near Bubbly Creek has led us to conclude that it is best to end the study effort at this time,” Army Corps District Commander Christopher Drew said in a statement.
The Army Corps of Engineers can only revive the project when the remediation is completed.
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