Trustees Defer Vote on Jiffy Lube Agreements

agreed Tuesday night to defer a vote on an agreement with Jiffy Lube International, Inc., over future remediation of soil that could be necessary due to leaky underground storage tanks at the Libertyville facility.

Village board meeting documents state that "underground storage tanks located at the Jiffy Lube facility, 445 S. Milwaukee Avenue, in Libertyville experienced leakage resulting in an investigation and incident number being assigned by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency." The contamination area, or plume, extends beyond the Jiffy Lube property line to under Rockland Road and Milwaukee Avenue. Both the groundwater and soil were affected.

The board was presented with two agreements Tuesday night. The first was a Highway Authority Agreement between the village and Jiffy Lube International, Inc., and would provide "that the village will prohibit any party from utilizing groundwater from any area within the plume as noted in the exhibits attached to this agreement."

The second agreement was an indemnification agreement that states: "Jiffy Lube International Inc. has agreed to indemnify the village against any incremental costs in the event that during a construction or repair of Rockland Road, contaminated soil is discovered." The agreement "requires that Jiffy Lube reimburse the village for all such expenses, including legal costs associated with the review and preparation of these documents."

Mayor Terry Weppler, however, expressed concern about future costs should the Jiffy Lube company ever go out of business.

"I worry about down the road, because at some point are we going to put this on the taxpayers' shoulders?" said Weppler.

Trustee Richard Moras agreed, noting that in the event of a bankruptcy, it would be up to a judge to decide whether Jiffy Lube International would be liable for the costs.

"I think there is some potential liability in the future if we go through with this," said Moras.

Trustees agreed to defer their vote until they can obtain more information on the issue.