The multi-year project to rehabilitate the aging storm sewer beneath downtown Downers Grove has stopped following the July 27 drowning death of a Texas contractor inside the pipe, according to a report from Underground Infrastructure trade magazine published Monday, Aug. 3.
Ivan A. Perez, 33, of Pasadena, Texas, died after floodwater trapped him inside the 11-foot-diameter concrete culvert during severe storms on Monday, July 27. A second worker was rescued about 200 feet from the entry point and taken to Endeavor Health Good Samaritan Hospital in good condition, according to a Village of Downers Grove press release. Both trapped workers were members of Laborers Union Local 68.
The project halt leaves unfinished a major piece of Downers Grove's underground infrastructure. The culvert, installed in the 1960s, runs 2,200 feet beneath the downtown area near the Civic Center and carries St. Joseph Creek and stormwater. Houston-based Vortex Lining Systems LLC had been cleaning, removing debris from and installing a new liner inside the deteriorating pipe since 2025, with the scope of work presented at a village council meeting in March 2025, NBC Chicago reported.
Before the fatal incident, crews had completed lining the pipe up to Curtiss and Belden avenues, where the accident occurred. Work was expected to continue west toward the Civic Center and parking deck, according to Fox 32 Chicago. The project had already faced weather-related delays before July 27.
The Village of Downers Grove has not issued a formal public statement on the project's status or a timeline for resumption. The village's most recent press release, updated Monday, Aug. 3, addresses storm debris cleanup but does not mention the sewer project.
Federal OSHA has opened an investigation into whether Vortex Lining Systems followed confined-space safety standards. The agency has up to six months to complete its probe, which would extend through approximately late January 2027.
As we reported July 29, the incident began at approximately 12:50 p.m. on July 27 when a Vortex employee flagged down Downers Grove police officers at the construction site in the 800 block of Curtiss Street. The Downers Grove Fire Department launched a technical rescue but transitioned to a recovery operation by 8:28 p.m. due to high water levels and hazardous gases inside the sewer. Perez's body was recovered around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28, approximately 28 hours after he was first reported missing.
The DuPage County Coroner's Office ruled the preliminary cause of death as accidental drowning, with toxicology results pending.
"We are devastated by the loss of our team member following an unexpected major rain event, and are doing everything we can to support his family during this incredibly difficult time," Vortex Companies Chief Marketing Officer Bo Sims said in a statement on July 29.
No village official has publicly addressed when or whether the rehabilitation work will resume, or what the stoppage means for the long-term condition of the 60-year-old culvert beneath downtown.
