Environmental threat lingers months after massive oily spill into Chicago canal

Nearly half a million gallons of liquid asphalt spilled into the storied canal of the Chicago River earlier this year, leading to a massive cleanup that is continuing almost nine months later.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overseen the removal of almost two tons of oil-based asphalt that the agency says spilled from Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co., a Forest View business operating along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

While the company has been ordered by the EPA to modify its safety practices to avoid future spills into the water, the agency hasn’t issued any penalty or even a notice of violation almost nine months after the problem was detected. The business is responsible for the cleanup, however. Officials with St. Louis-based Apex Oil Co., which owns Petroleum Fuel and Terminal, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

The canal, built more than a century ago to reverse the flow of the river, connects to the Des Plaines River. The asphalt, used for roofing, was found miles downstream and dozens of animals, including baby ducks and water snakes, were cleaned, treated and released after being immersed in the oily substance.

“We should be outraged that this happened in the first place and that there are not stronger preventative measures in place,” said Cameron Davis, a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and a former EPA official.

Davis said the harm to fish and other wildlife is “impossible to quantify” and that the impact of the spill could take years to determine. The asphalt was a hot liquid when it poured into the canal and has thickened after being cooled by the water. The asphalt has also contaminated the canal’s shoreline, which the EPA says will also be cleaned up.

Davis, an elected official for the government body that manages the Chicago area's sewer system, said he’s also concerned for the health of people who fish in the canal and eat what they catch.

There were no warnings after the spill about the risk of consuming contaminated fish from state government health officials.

Illinois public health officials already warn about the dangers of eating fish largely because of a long-banned class of chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that are tied to cancer and other health threats. State officials also warn about mercury and a class of chemicals known as PFAS in the canal and the Chicago River.

Apex is required to change the way it prevents and controls spills. The hot liquid asphalt entered storm drains through manhole covers that are now sealed, according to the EPA.

“The responsible party will monitor the canal for the reemergence of asphalt over the next few months,” EPA said in a statement, adding that the agency “continues to ensure the protection of human health and the environment by continuing work until shoreline cleanup is complete.”

State environmental protection officials, who inspect the Forest View operation, are also involved in overseeing the cleanup. A search of a government enforcement database showed no serious violations at the Apex site in recent years.

The cleanup comes at a time when some advocacy groups and politicians are promoting the use of the canal for recreational use. There’s even a contest to rename the almost 30-mile Sanitary and Ship Canal, which got its name for its part redirecting wastewater away from Lake Michigan, Chicago’s drinking water source. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District still uses the canal to send treated wastewater to the Des Plaines and Illinois rivers where it eventually flows down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The canal is used for commercial boat and barge traffic.

Petroleum Fuel & Terminal leases 24 acres of land in Forest View from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District where it has operated an oil terminal and storage operation since at least 1993, according to district officials. The government body leases land to a number of industrial businesses along the canal.

Forest View, located just north of the Stevenson Expressway and above Garfield Ridge in Chicago, is an industry-heavy community where more than 700 people live.

While some western suburbs have tried to shake the historical industrial image of their communities along the canal, Forest View is largely an industrial corridor that is a little more than a square mile.

The Cook County village was once controlled by Al Capone’s older brother, Ralph, according to Forest View’s website, and even earned the nickname Caponeville before the mobster moved his operations to Cicero.