PHOTOS: About 50 Gallons of Diesel Fuel Spills into Batavia Stormwater on Kirk Road
Tri-Com reports that about 50 gallons of diesel fuel has spilled into the Batavia stormwater system on Douglas Road near Kirk Road.
Photos
About 50 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Batavia stormwater system around 2 p.m. Friday, March 22, following a truck fuel-tank leak near the intersection of Douglas Road and Kirk Road in Batavia.
The leak was caused when a drive shaft broke and punctured two holes in the truck's fuel tank, Batavia Deputy Fire Chief Randy Banker said at the scene.
Batavia police and fire officials reported to Douglas Road around 2 p.m., and Batavia public works personnel, North Aurora and Fermilab spill units, and Kane County personnel were at the scene as of 3 p.m.
The Kane County Highway Department and the Environmental Protection Agency were contacted, as well, Banker said.
At 3 p.m. traffic on Kirk Road was not affected by the cleanup effort.
Tri-Com Dispatch reported the spill has been stopped and some emergency vehicles were leaving as of 3:44 p.m.
Clean-up crews were located at the apparent accident point on Douglas Road about 50 feet west of the intersection of Kirk Road and at a second location along the west side of Kirk Road just north of the railroad tracks near Wilson Street.
At 5:02 p.m., Engine 2 cleared the scene and turned over mitigation efforts to a cleanup company.
Patch will attempt to determine what the hazardous effects might be, if any, of that amount of diesel fuel entering the stormwater system.
"Diesel fuel, oil, antifreeze and other vehicle fluids are toxic to the environment," according to Tercenter.com. "Prevent contaminants from entering the stormwater system. ... Check for fluid leaks and immediately repair and clean up any leaks that are found. (Cleanup poses) challenges because of the immediate potential dangers of water pollution."
Patch will provide additional updates as more information is available from official sources.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article noted that the spill was near the Suncast Corporation at 701 N. Kirk Road in Batavia. The spill was not on the Suncast site.
Kimberly Kozar
3:34 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
Rick, does this pose a health threat to anyone?
dave weekly
4:44 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
March 13th ?
David Disher
4:51 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
Oh my, the world is ending. 50 gallons of diesel, oh my. That is a little more than one whole barrel. Oh my.
dave weekly
5:18 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
David Disher, fyi.....I drive a truck,and we are required, to have spill kits(retaining cloths, and absortion methods) to contain a hazardous spill. The driver can and probably should be fined, in this case, unless you do not mind, paying more taxes,for the drivers inability to contain this spill ! The cost alone could be exhuberant ! But you probably drink your water from a bottled source.
David Disher
2:20 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
I live on a ranch and have my own water, am 70 years of age, and am no longer amazed at how often people are so willing to give up their liberty for an allusion of safety.
David Disher
2:24 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
No disrespect but your word Exhuberant might be replaced by Exhorbitant.
When I was younger I was a registered geophysicist in the State of California. We have a bunch of uneducated political hacks scaring people in order to gain power for themselves.
Geneva Resident
5:11 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
David - You have your own water? I'd love to know what that means. If you mean you have your own well, where do you think that water comes from? Diesel or anything spilling into the stormwater system can easily find its way into your well!
GT
6:22 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
The IL EPA will absolutely crucify a business that contaminates a waterway. Not that they shouldn't, but this is no laughing matter to the person(s) responsible.
Bob Loblaw
9:20 am on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Benzene entering waterways isn't a joke.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/benzene/docs/benzene.pdf
There is no "safe" level of benzene exposure.
David Disher
9:16 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Really, how about one part in a quintillion?
David Disher
9:15 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Geneva Resident. My water comes from a well several hundred feet deep. The odds of contamination from a barrel of diesel on the surface is epsilon, where epsilon is less than delta and delta is a positive number. In short the odds are the limit as epsilon approaches zero.
When I lived in Batavia about fifty plus years ago, a well was being dug on the four hundred block of east Wilson Street. Being seven years old I was inquisitive. I asked how deep the city's new well was going to be. The answer was several thousand feet. The odds of contamination for your water is zero unless you now get your water from the Fox River. I was given an Iowa test in Batavia in the sixth grade and received the highest score in my class, all 99 percentiles nationwide.
I also had the highest score on the national defense test in the nation in 1959 after I transferred to Lane Tech. Everyone wanted to know where I learned to read. I always responded, Batavia, Illinois.
A few years later the Fermi lab was built in Batavia. Q.E.D.
gt
9:18 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
David, you old Texas blowhard! Thanks for bringing Fermi to Batavia!
Benzene? Hell, we used to drink the dang stuff straight up...'fact I'll raise a glass to you - cheers you old coyot'!
David Disher
9:40 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
Who the hell is gt. Som bee got more sense than most yankees. Am impressed.
I think coyot is spelled coyote but I'm just an ignoramus from south of the border.
We got another norther today blowing even harder than me. Would you please keep your air in Batavia until August? Had to cover my garden tonight. Temp is already 50 but dewpoint is 26. Might get a light frost.
Adios amigo or is it amiga?
gt
10:29 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
Amigo, my friend - and I'd like to get down to your neck of the woods sooner than later, before the Illinois pols have to build a fence to keep us in!
Cindy stauffer
10:30 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
Can't we all just get along? You are both behaving like children. Grow up! Save your fighting for home. The rest of us don't want to hear it.