No dangerous chemicals found in spill

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September 2, 2010

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL Commercial-News The Commercial-News Thu Sep 02, 2010, 11:41 PM CDT

DANVILLE — Test results of a liquid spill from nearby Double S Liquid Feed Services indicate no dangerous chemicals were found by state officials

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency took samples of liquids along Mabin Street and at Double S Liquid Feed Services, both on the afternoon of June 1.

Jeff Holste and Joe Koronkowski are members of the IEPA office in Champaign and handled the water testing at the site.

Both men said the higher-than normal material found at both test sites was a base material of molasses.

The ingredient — while not dangerous — could have caused problems if it had reached a river area. As the material decays, it depletes the oxygen in the water, causing a fish kill.

Higher levels of calcium and iron also were found in the river, according to both men. Both were expected increases chalked up to the metal railroad tracks and the rock surrounding the tracks.

No pesticides were found in the water samples.

The IEPA met with concerned residents as well as city officials in late June for a meeting coordinated by state Rep. Bill Black.

At the core of the discussion was odor reeking from two ditches near Mabin Avenue and Griffin Street. Reported just before the Memorial Day weekend, residents at the meeting described the smell from the liquid in the ditches as “putrid” on a hot day and alleged the liquid is responsible for killing some plant life along the ditches.

Black, who announced the release of the test results on Thursday, said there was “nothing earth-shattering found in the samples.”

He added he has been out to the site a number of times since the June meeting and the locations both “look a heck of a lot better.”

According to the IEPA at that meeting, it was believed Double S Liquid Feed Services, which makes animal feed, had incidental spillage of a combination of molasses and fatty acids in the ditch that runs along the CSX railroad. The company receives the liquids via railroad. Information indicated this had happened previously.

As a result of the molasses and fatty acids in the ditch, the IEPA has issued a violation notice to Double S for not having a barrier to prevent spills from entering the environment as well as other problems. According to the IEPA, the 23-year-old company has begun clean up in the ditch, using a sump to collect the liquid and pump it into its facility for processing.

CSX also received a violation notice as well as the City of Danville since it has jurisdiction over the storm water management.

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