Contractor Says Citgo Station Owner Ignored Fuel Leak for Years
A 2008 private contractor's inspection report revealed a 1991 gasoline leak contaminated soil near Capitol Drive and Newhall Street.
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The Shorewood Citgo gas station state and fire officials have shut down — in light of a gasoline leak in the village’s sewer system — has a history of contamination problems stretching back to 1991, Today's TMJ4 reports.
The owner of the station at 1602 E. Capitol Dr., Syed Rizvi of Glendale, hired Benchmark Environmental Services in 2008 to examine the property and inspection results showed a 1991 fuel leak had contaminated soil near East Capitol Drive and North Newhall Street.
The owner of Benchmark, an Illinois-based environmental engineering firm, told the news station that Rizvi ignored the results of the inspection, and left unaddressed, the contamination likely made its way into Shorewood's sewer system via groundwater and into resident's basements.
The source of the gasoline leak has puzzled fire officials since Wednesday morning when firefighters and Shorewood police responded to a report of a gas leak in an apartment basement near East Capitol Drive and North Wilson Drive. The report forced an evacuation of two apartment buildings for several hours.
Fire officials say a significant presence of petroleum was found Friday morning when crews drilled 8- to 10-feet deep in front of Shorewood's Citgo gas station and collected soil samples.
State Department of Natural Resources officials are expected in Shorewood soon, to start an investigation into who's responsible for the spill. After a party is designated, as responsible, cleanup efforts will follow, North Shore Fire Department Chief Robert Whitaker said.
When they arrive, state DNR officials will set up a venting mechanism to help prevent gasoline from further seeping into sewers.
The gas station was closed Wednesday night, when sanitary sewer samples prompted fire officials to shut down its pumping operations. State officials have since stepped in, red-taping Citgo’s pumps and restricting the sell of fuel.
Meanwhile, crews plan to continue sanitary sewer system ventilation and flushing efforts through the weekend.
The gasoline stench poses no health danger, officials say, but if residents discover the odor in their home they should flush their water traps with water. If that doesn't work, residents are asked to call 911 and leave their homes.
Arnie Vaske
7:29 am on Sunday, October 9, 2011
My sympathies to the gas station owner as well as the adjacent landowners and tenants. This does point out the need for regulations to protect the environment and the public interest.
Bob McBride
8:45 am on Sunday, October 9, 2011
It appears that the gas station owner ignored the report of the inspector he hired, making him the most likely candidate for blame in this situation. I'm not sure why you would be offering him your sympathies or what regulations you think would have protected the environment and public interest, if such is the case.
There's one, relatively minor regulation I can think of that, at the very least, may have made someone else other than just the owner of the station aware the inspector's report. Whether or not that would have prevented this from occurring is debatable.
NaiveOne
1:05 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011
Shouldn't there be some sort of litgious recourse against old Syed and Citgo for ignoring the contamination report? There are a lot of businesses, homes and schools aroung that station that could have been affected. Has the Village decided yet to force Syed to empty the underground tanks yet?
Jenny Heyden
11:09 am on Monday, October 10, 2011
That Citgo station is currently for sale, a million bucks. Also, really, we need less regulation. More gas in the water. More jobs.
Bob McBride
12:07 pm on Monday, October 10, 2011
You know, those of you in Shorewood who feel this could have been prevented via regulation are perfectly within your rights to draft up some regulations on your own and propose them to your Village government and insist they be put to a vote. You'll need a certain number of your fellow residents to back you in your quest for tighter regulation of these kinds of establishments in order for it to succeed, but maybe that won't be so hard to get in Shorewood.
Of course you might end up with some legal challenges, which can be expensive and would most likely drag out implementation of whatever it is you experts on preventing free range gasoline storage come up with, but it's the principle that counts. Heck, the regulations don't even have to make sense or be effective - all you have to do is convince a majority of residents in the Village that they're needed and be willing to stand your ground regardless of the cost.
The most effective way to prevent this type of situation from happening again would be to close down all the gas stations, implement the existing brown field regulations, prohibit the sale of gasoline in the village and maybe attempt to attract a few more hair dressers or florists to the area in their place.
Or maybe you'll even get one of those ice cream parlors you've been craving.
I say go for it.