Two incidents of petroleum-based fuel leaking into Elgin stormwater basins near Highland Avenue and being discharged into the Fox River are under investigation, Fire Chief Robb Cagann said.
The leaks were contained and neither posed a “significant environmental hazard” or threat to the city’s drinking water, which comes from a Fox River intake system north of Highland, Cagann told the Elgin City Council at its Wednesday night meeting.
Cagann, who also serves as the city’s emergency management director, said the first leak occurred Aug. 8 followed by a second Tuesday.
It’s not clear how the fuel ended up in the stormwater sewer system and no way to calculate how much was involved, he said. The source of the leaks and type of fuel involved are under investigation.
“We are looking at different possibilities, whether this was an illegal dump or some sort of accidental discharge,” Cagann said.
The first spill came to light when people started calling 911 to report seeing a “fuel-like substance in the river around the Highland Street bridge,” he said.
Fire department divers doing rescue boat training exercises on the Fox near the Grand Victoria Casino were sent to check out the situation. What they found was a strong odor of gasoline and a substance in the river coming from a stormwater basin under the bridge, the chief said.
The Kane County Office of Emergency Management, Fox River Water Reclamation District, Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency were contacted. A hazardous waste removal company used booms to contain the leak, Cagann said.
Fire officials also worked with the city’s water department to install cameras in the storm drain to access the network in the area, he said.
When the fire department was notified of another slick in the river Tuesday, “we started our whole investigation process again,” he said.
This time, firefighters found the substance coming from a different stormwater basin located in an alley that’s parallel to the train tracks at the Elgin Transportation Center and State Street, off of which several businesses are located.
Because the basin’s bottom is gravel, the fuel may have seeped in and is now lodged there, Cagann said. Inflatable plugs should prevent more from going into the river, Cagann said, but rain predicted for the next few days could have an effect.
“We will hopefully have no discharge out of this drain,” he said. “This is an ongoing situation. We are going to be dealing with it for quite some time.”
As for the “sheen” on top of the river, it’s not the same as when there’s an oil tanker spill fuel and the material must be removed, Cagann said. “We don’t have that. It’s all on the surface,” he said.
While the investigation will determine many factors, Cagann said, “the concern I have is that this will not end tomorrow.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
