Environmental, Law and Order, Park Forest

Illinois EPA Refers Land Mart, Inc. to Attorney General for Enforcement


Gas Depot South Holland
Gas Depot, 15 E. Sibley Blvd. South Holland, IL (Source: chicagogasprices.com)

Illinois EPA Cites Release from Underground Storage Tank impacting Combined Storm/Sanitary Sewer

SPRINGFIELD –(ENEWSPF)—October 27, 2017

By: Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Alec Messina has referred an enforcement action to the Illinois Attorney General’s office against Land Mart, Inc. for releasing gasoline into the combined storm/sanitary sewer system in Cook County. The Agency is seeking an order requiring the owner to immediately hire a contractor to control any additional gasoline release from the site, mitigate vapors in off-site residences and businesses, pump down the observation well, and conduct air monitoring on the sewer system, as well as hire a consultant to investigate the cause of the release and remediate contamination resulting therefrom.

Land Mart, Inc. is the owner/operator of a Gas Depot, located at 15 E. Sibley Blvd. in South Holland.

On October 24, 2017, a South Holland Dispatch Operator contacted the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to report that the South Holland Fire Department was dispatched to investigate an odor of kerosene in a residential basement on Wabash Avenue. The odor was traced to a sewer. A short time later, the South Holland Fire Department contacted IEMA to update information about the release, noting the source was identified as the Gas Depot on Sibley and an estimated 100 gallons of gasoline had been released. An environmental contractor was said to be en route to pump the remaining liquid from the underground storage tank. Illinois EPA responded to the site where emergency actions were being directed by Office of the State Fire Marshall (OSFM) and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD).

On October 25, 2017, gasoline intrusion into the sewer system was continuing with one home and one off-site business impacted. An environmental contractor had pumped the observation well, tank sump and dispensers, but no engineering firm had been hired by the owner to investigate and remediate the release. On October 26, Illinois EPA was notified by MWRD that free product was continuing to enter the sewer system and a second home had contacted the South Holland Fire Department overnight. The owner had no information on when further pumping would occur.

In the referral, the Agency cited violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, in which the facility caused, threatened or allowed the discharge of contaminants so as to cause or tend to cause air pollution and water pollution and deposited contaminants upon the land creating a water pollution hazard. Illinois EPA continues to monitor the situation.

Source: www.illinois.gov


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