Grayslake Approves Plan to Close Asphalt Plant

An asphalt plant near the intersection of Route 137 and Route 83 will close by next January, according to an agreement with Vulcan Materials that the approved Tuesday.

In that agreement Curran Asphalt, which leases the land from Vulcan Materials, will also have to remove the plant equipment before the end of 2013, and four large billboard signs will be elimiated by 2015. The unincorporated plant site will also be annexed into the Village.

"We're always willing and trying to work with our neighbors and long term the Village has a direction they want to go in and they have this land to help them do that," said Joshua Robbins, spokesperson for Vulcan Materials.

Curran Asphalt has not operated out of the Route 137 and 83 location for a year, according to Vice President and General Manager of Materials and Plants Mike Leopardo. "We stopped simply because of the lack of work," he said. "We didn't have enough to keep the operation running."

Leopardo said five people were let go when the plant stopped operating and the field crews are now running out of other Curran locations including in Lake Bluff, Crystal Lake and DeKalb. Curran's plant in McHenry is not operating at this time due to lack of work, Leopardo said. 

Last year several citizens voiced concerns to the Village Board about the air emissions from the plant and from the . Mayor Rhett Taylor said, "We took those comments very seriously and want to do what's right for the residents of Grayslake."

"By approving this agreement and the asphalt plant closing we will eliminate a major pollution source in the Grayslake area," Taylor said.

Vulcan Materials Company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates, a major producer of other construction materials including asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and cement.