As Burr Ridge officials and residents considered the future of the former CNH Industrial property, the Village’s planning consultant repeatedly sought environmental reports for the 110-acre site.
CNH declined to provide them.
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that representatives of Houseal Lavigne, the firm hired to lead Burr Ridge’s comprehensive-plan update, asked CNH for its Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments in March and April 2026.
Those reports can identify recognized environmental conditions and determine whether additional investigation or remediation may be necessary before property is redeveloped.
In an April 22 email, CNH Vice President Jason Omerza said the company had decided not to distribute the reports.
“We have decided not to distribute those reports,” Omerza wrote. He said the reports contained “nothing concerning” and that the property was suitable for light industrial and research-and-development uses.
But Omerza also tied the decision to public reaction.
“The tone of resident feedback from the open house makes us think it may not be in our best interest to share the information widely,” he wrote.
That explanation raises an obvious question: If the reports contain nothing concerning, why should residents’ opinions determine whether the Village’s planning consultant can review them?
The consultant asked more than once
On March 18, Houseal Lavigne principal Cory Lavigne asked CNH for the Phase II assessment and records concerning past operations, underground storage tanks and environmental remediation.
The request followed a meeting with Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso and Village Administrator Evan Walter.
Lavigne followed up on April 21, asking for the complete Phase I and Phase II reports. He explained that questions about possible remediation had emerged during the public planning process.
CNH refused the following day.
The matter apparently remained unresolved. On June 10, Mayor Grasso wrote that he wanted to “renew my request” for the reports.
The correspondence does not establish that the CNH property is contaminated or unsafe. Environmental assessments are routine parts of major real-estate transactions, particularly for land with a long history of industrial use.
But the records do establish something significant: the consultants helping Burr Ridge determine the property’s future sought environmental information, and the owner withheld it partly because of public reaction.
A property with a long industrial history
The CNH property at 6900 Veterans Boulevard has been used for machinery and diesel-engine research, development and testing since approximately 1959, according to CNH.
Its history is closely connected to Burr Ridge itself. The community was originally incorporated as the Village of Harvester after International Harvester established operations in the area.
CNH later announced that it would relocate and sell the property, prompting years of redevelopment proposals and public debate.
Bridge Industrial initially considered a project containing a Costco, gas station, corporate offices and light-industrial space. A later proposal combined townhomes, industrial buildings and a new Burr Ridge Public Works facility.
By September 2024, the housing had been removed and Bridge was proposing seven industrial buildings, open space and the Village-owned facility. After public hearings, revisions and repeated continuances, Bridge formally withdrew its zoning petition in August 2025. The Village’s official CNH redevelopment timeline documents that process.
Burr Ridge subsequently hired Houseal Lavigne and began developing a CNH subarea master plan. The Village held a public visioning workshop in February 2026, an open house in April and Plan Commission proceedings beginning in June. The process is summarized on the Village’s Comprehensive Plan Update page.
Another environmental review involved Village property
The records also show that environmental due diligence extended beyond CNH’s privately owned land.
In September 2024, Tetra Tech arranged a Phase I environmental site assessment of the Burr Ridge Public Works property at 451 Commerce Street. The work was being performed for Midwest RE Acquisitions, an entity associated with Bridge Industrial.
A subsequent email described the assessment as part of environmental due diligence for the proposed CNH redevelopment, whose boundaries would have included the Public Works property.
That creates additional unanswered questions:
What did the assessment of the Public Works property find?
Did the Village receive a complete copy?
Were any environmental conditions identified?
What protections would taxpayers have received if Village land became part of a private redevelopment?
Would the Village have assumed any remediation or long-term environmental costs?
“Nothing concerning” is not the same as disclosure
CNH may be correct that its environmental reports contain no alarming findings. Nothing in the released correspondence proves otherwise.
But an assurance from a property owner is not a substitute for allowing qualified planners and environmental professionals to examine the underlying documents.
Residents were being asked to evaluate competing visions for one of the largest development sites in Burr Ridge. Village officials were weighing housing, commercial uses, industrial buildings, public facilities, traffic, open space and potentially substantial public expenditures.
Environmental conditions could affect every one of those decisions—including which uses are appropriate, what construction may cost and who could ultimately be responsible for remediation.
Public skepticism should increase the need for verifiable information. It should not become a reason to withhold it.
The complete correspondence and the Village’s response to the public-records request are available through the MuckRock request file.
Questions to Ask
Has CNH subsequently provided its complete Phase I and Phase II reports to Burr Ridge or Houseal Lavigne?
What environmental conditions, if any, were identified in those reports?
Did the Village receive the Phase I assessment conducted on its Public Works property?
Has the Village independently evaluated environmental conditions across the proposed redevelopment area?
Will environmental reports be released before Burr Ridge approves a master plan or future redevelopment proposal?
How we made this: CityNewsWire reviewed public records obtained through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and compared them with Burr Ridge’s published redevelopment and comprehensive-planning timelines. The records do not establish that contamination exists; they document requests for environmental reports and CNH’s decision not to provide them.