Dive Brief:
- George Lucas, the film director whose credits include films such as Star Wars, American Graffiti and Indiana Jones, is planning to open a museum of narrative art on a former dumpsite in Chicago, IL.
- In order to get the approval to begin construction of the institution, Lucas must first remove and dispose of the potentially hazardous substances in the soil at the site. The debris was confirmed to be remnants left behind from the Chicago fire of 1871 and additional waste dumped at the site until the early 1900s.
- The 5-acre museum will sit on 17 acres of land that has been analyzed to be full of harmful and potentially carcinogenic chemicals.
Dive Insight:
An inspection report of the land around the proposed site was filed ten years ago and is currently on file with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The cost of the cleanup is speculated to be anywhere between $50,000 to $2 million, according to an environmental consultant who previously analyzed the soil for an unrelated project.
