Quick work stops motor oil from getting into Tyler Creek

A metal drum storing used motor oil at a gas station on Elgin's west side sprung a leak Tuesday morning, but authorities say none of the estimated 125 gallons got into the nearby Tyler Creek or the Fox River.

City spokeswoman Sue Olafson said authorities received a call at about 8:15 a.m. from the manager at the Marathon gas station, 1126 Larkin Ave.

Manager Sid Siddiqi said a mechanic noticed the leak from a large metal drum outside the gas station where used motor oil is stored until it can be recycled.

Siddiqi said he also hired the Addison-based firm HazChem Environmental Corporation to clean up the spill.

"We take this situation very seriously," he said. "It was an accident."

Siddiqi said he did not know what caused the leak.

Olafson said about 125 gallons of oil entered the city's storm sewer system and the city's public works Department tracked it as far as Heine and Lawrence avenues.

The Elgin Fire Department and South Elgin hazardous materials team set up a blockade to absorb the mess, and no traces of oil were found in Tyler Creek or the Fox River.

Olafson said HazChem has completed its work for the day and will return to the site Wednesday with officials from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Elgin police to re-evaluate the scene near Larkin and Aldine Road.

"HazChem has agreed that there has been no impact to Tyler Creek and the Fox River," Olafson said. "We caught it. It's not impacting the city's water supply."

Olafson said it would be "premature" to say whether the Marathon station would be fined for Tuesday's spill until all the facts have been gathered.

Siddiqi said he has received no indication from authorities that he will be fined or cited for Tuesday's leak.

This was the second time in just more than a week in which pollutants threatened to make their way into the Fox River.

On May 15, a batch of alkylbenzene sulfonic acid anionic surfactant, commonly used in laundry detergent products, entered the storm sewer in a South Elgin industrial park and killed dozens of fish in a creek near the Fox River.

The spill was spotted by a resident watching carp spawn in the creek.

The Illinois Attorney General's office is investigating whether to pursue possible criminal charges in that case.