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A factory employing 500 people making 2 million solar panels a year, adjacent to a 125-acre solar field and a 40-acre solar pond generating clean power, may be coming to Waukegan on land once a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site where the Johns Manville plant once sat.
Waukegan and a location in Kansas are the two finalists competing to become the home of Netherlands-based Solarge’s first facility in the U.S., where lightweight solar panels will be made and solar energy generated.
“I think this is the true meaning of rebuilding Waukegan,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said. “This will reverse our environmental legacy and repurpose the future of Waukegan.”
The City Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the inducement of a developer on Monday at City Hall, enabling local officials to work with Lake County, the state of Illinois and community partners to secure the proposed development.
Michael Castaldo Jr., an attorney with corporation counsel Ottosen DiNolfo Hasenbalg & Castaldo, said at the meeting that the resolution is the next “step toward moving toward a development agreement.”
Derek van der Vorst, an international business advisor with Solarge, said the company hopes to decide between Waukegan and the Kansas site no later than the end of March. Both locations have benefits appealing to Solarge.
Though Vorst said the cost of doing business in Kansas is less than in Waukegan, and Solarge will not have to deal with agencies like the EPA and the Illinois Environmental Agency on Kansas’ greenfield site, Waukegan also has outstanding attributes.
“There are some unique features about the Johns Manville site,” Vorst said. “It’s right on the lake. We’re really excited to be able to take a Superfund site and make it into something that’s very positive. We think we can revitalize an underserved area that has suffered from asbestos and coal power pollution.”
Vorst said Solarge has an option to purchase 280 acres of the former 340-acre Johns Manville site. Of the land, 110 acres would be used to build the factory. It would employ approximately 500 people. A solar field will be created on 110 acres of the property, and the 40-acre pond will also have solar panels generating power.
“The five acres on the lakefront will be for a meeting room for visitors, customers and partners,” he said.
As Solarge has investigated the Waukegan site and the resources around Lake County, Vorst said he has had discussions with people in the business community and educators in the region about the quality of the workforce.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions with Lake County Partners and the College of Lake County about training and recruitment programs,” he said. “We really want to work with local businesses and become an economic contributor to the city, the county and the state.”
With the opening of the Yeoman Creek Solar Farm in November, the area is already producing electric bill savings for Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 and low- to moderate-income individuals. Vorst said he intends to do the same. Solarge would be a much larger facility.
Kevin Considine, the president and CEO of Lake County Partners who was at the meeting, said if Solarge decides on the Waukegan location, it will be a major addition to Waukegan and the economy of Lake County.
“Bringing 500 jobs to downtown Waukegan is huge,” he said after the meeting. “It’s cool they’ll be working with the College of Lake County to train people for these (clean-energy) jobs.”
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, who was also at the meeting, said afterward that the board already approved a similar resolution to work on bringing the project to Waukegan. She, too, likes the environmental impact.
“We will be working with the county and state to bring these jobs to Lake County,” she said.
Cunningham said he has already been in communication with Gov. JB Pritzker about the project. They have had telephone conversations.
Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, said the potential use of the Johns Manville site has personal meaning. Her father worked at the factory, lost a leg in an accident and she is certain his health was impacted by the pollution there.
“For me and my family, this would be an amazing transformation for families like mine,” Florian said. “This would be amazing if it could happen.”
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