The state accused a suburban business of breaking environmental laws after even more asphalt was found in the Sanitary and Ship Canal more than 10 months after a spill of almost a half-million gallons of the hot liquid substance.
Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co. of Forest View was given notice by state officials earlier this month accusing it of violating state environmental laws.
In addition to contaminating the water, the asphalt killed and harmed wildlife, including birds and reptiles. The oily substance spread through the canal and has washed up on shore.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took the lead on the cleanup, which included large plumes of oily asphalt. But President Donald Trump’s administration handed off the rest of the work to the state last month despite objections from JB Pritzker’s environmental officials.
On Oct. 27, state officials visited the area around the spill site and found asphalt still in the canal and along the shore.
“Based on these findings, the facility is in apparent violation” of state laws, according to the violation letter sent Dec. 5.
The Forest View business is owned by Apex Oil Co. of St. Louis, which is responsible for cleaning up the canal and shoreline under EPA guidance. Company officials didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
In late November, Anne Vogel, Trump’s EPA regional administrator in Chicago, told Pritzker’s environmental agency that Apex “had completed necessary removal actions” and that the discharged asphalt “no longer poses a substantial threat to the public health or welfare.”
Vogel also said she withdrew her staff from the site and asked the company to submit a report to her agency.
The EPA has said that the discharge into the canal is a violation of the federal Clean Water Act, noting that there was a “harmful quantity” of the oily substance.
The federal agency refers to Apex as a “potentially responsible party” but has not formally cited it for any violations.
Apex’s Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co. sits on 24 acres of land in Forest View leased from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the government body that manages the Chicago area’s sewer system.