Raw sewage and sludge was sent into a nearby river as a result of a waste treatment plant near Chicago
An explosion at a waste water management site just south of Chicago has sent one to one and half million gallons of sledge flowing into the Kankakee River.
The incident is under investigation as authorities try to determine what the cause of the explosion was. Initial reports are that the methane gas that is used to run the plant may have been the cause of the explosion. Although methane is highly flammable, they are still looking for what may have sparked the fire. The water treatment plant is still operational and there are no warnings about drinking water.
Hazardous Material teams and firefighters have been working to plug the leak to try and keep more from flowing into the river. They are currently using an eight million gallon tank that the leak is being diverted too.
All 13 employees have been accounted for and none of them were injured during the explosion. Debris flew everywhere, but no homes nearby reported any problems with debris.
As far as the damage done to the environment, they won’t know the extent for a couple of days. Since fishing or boating is not happening this time of year because of the icy weather, there is no danger to the public on the river. The Environmental Protection Agency will have to watch the river for a few days to determine if there was any damage done to the fish and wildlife. The EPA is going to monitor about 60 miles of the Kankakee River.
The EPA did say that the treatment plant will have to pay fines for the release of sludge. It’s what they call “the negative impacts on our water system.”
