US EPA Abandons Canal Asphalt Cleanup

Friends of the Chicago River is deeply concerned that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stepped back from overseeing the cleanup of an asphalt spill in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, despite the continuing environmental threat. The rollback was reported in a recent Chicago-Sun Times story.

In February, nearly half a million gallons of liquid asphalt poured into the canal after a failure at the storage facility operated by Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co., causing a sheen on the water, thick sludge on the shoreline, and contamination downstream as well. Wildlife, including juvenile ducks and water snakes, were found coated in oily sludge; dozens of these animals had to be rescued, cleaned and released according to the story. The Canal is alive with all kinds of wildlife which has returned to due to improvements in water quality and habitat, including young-of-the year channel catfish found more than 15 years ago demonstrating back then how much healthier the Canal has become.

The Sun-Times reports that although the EPA initially ordered the company responsible to clean up the spilled asphalt, the agency recently concluded that “significant work” has been done and that the state should finish the rest. This decision comes even though Illinois EPA officials have said they believe the cleanup is “incomplete,” with asphalt reportedly still present in the canal, shoreline, and sediment, conditions that continue to pose risks to aquatic life, public health, and waterway health.

We believe the US EPA’s decision is utterly derelict. We applaud Illinois environmental officials for taking measures to hold the federal EPA to account, and to do what it can to step in and provide rigorous oversight, enforce responsible-party cleanup, and publicly report on progress until the canal and surrounding environment are properly restored.