Illinois EPA Refers Speedway LLC to Attorney General for Enforcement

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Alec Messina has referred an enforcement action to the Illinois Attorney General's office against Speedway LLC for releasing gasoline into the sanitary sewer system in DuPage County. The Agency is seeking an order requiring the company to immediately control any additional gasoline at the site, investigate the cause of the release and remediate contamination and continue air monitoring on the sewer line.

Speedway LLC is the owner/operator of a Speedway gas station #7445 located at 6241 South Cass Avenue in Westmont.

On October 19, 2017, the Tri-State Fire Department contacted the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to report an odor of nail polish remover and high Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) of unknown origin in lower garden apartments on Knoll Valley Drive, Willowbrook. At the time, it did not appear to be a petroleum-based odor. Officials were unable to locate the source of the odor. On October 20, 2017, Illinois EPA received a call from the Tri-State Fire Department reporting similar information. At that time, it was reported the odor extended over a half mile in the sanitary sewer. Later that morning, Illinois EPA received a report of an explosion on Knoll Wood Road in Willowbrook, believed to be related to the initial report. Illinois EPA representatives responded to the incident, where the local public works department had traced the source to the Speedway in Westmont.

The Speedway gas station reported they had become aware of an issue with loss of product on Monday, October 16, 2017 and began pumping their product tanks on Thursday, October 19. The release resulted in the explosion with one injury, multiple house fires, and fourteen manhole covers blown off due to pressure in the sanitary sewer. The gas station has since been isolated from the sanitary sewer and was shut down.

In the referral, the Agency cited violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, in which the facility caused, threatened or allowed the discharge of contaminants so as to cause or tend to cause air pollution and water pollution and deposited contaminants upon the land creating a water pollution hazard. Illinois EPA asks the Attorney General to obtain immediate injunctive relief. Agency representatives will continue to monitor the situation.