Elgin officials are trying to learn the source of two different fuel discharges into the Fox River, but they say there is no significant risk to the water or wildlife.
Elgin Fire Chief Robb Cagann on Wednesday updated city council members about a “fuel-like substance” found last Thursday on the river around the Highland Street bridge.
Firefighters in a dive boat identified the source of the discharge as a storm sewer drain under the bridge.
Cagann said they worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and other local agencies to develop a plan, and the Elgin Water Department put cameras in the storm drain to assess the network of pipes.
Once the city determined there was no risk of explosion, they called a hazardous materials cleanup company to deploy absorbent tools in the river that pull hydrocarbons from water.
As they continued to try to find the source of that fuel, they received calls on Tuesday morning about another fuel slick on the river, this one near the Pace bus terminal.
This time, the leak was traced back to a catch basin behind a group of businesses on State Street, including several restaurants and a bar near the bus depot. Cagann said the basin had a “substantial amount of fuel” with the water.
The hazardous material company inserted an inflatable plug in the catch basin to keep it from discharging. It also deployed absorbent booms in the river in front of the drain.
Cagann said officials have one theory about the source of the fuel.
“This was an illegal dumping that was put into the storm drain, somehow, someway,” he said.
Cagann said authorities are investigating, but it will be a challenge, saying the source could be someone dumping in the middle of the night or pouring something down a floor drain in the vicinity.
“This is not going to end tomorrow,” he said. “If the source is stopped, then we still have residual all over the system in those pipes. And the only way for that to get out is over time as it flushes out with the rainwater.”
Cagann said the absorbent booms could stay in place “for the next few months” until there is no more contamination.
“This is something we could be dealing with for quite some time,” he said.
While acknowledging there is no way to calculate how much fuel has been discharged, Cagann said that — based on conversations with the EPA and the cleanup company — officials are not worried about a significant impact.
Even though the city gets water from the Fox River, the intake is north of the fuel discharges.
“It’s just a sheen. So it’s a very small amount of fuel on water,” Cagann said. “There is not a significant environmental hazard here. We’re not worried about the ducks and the fish. Everything is good that way.”