ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
February 17,
1982
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
)
Complainant,
)
v.
)
PCB 77—49
)
ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF
)
RAILROAD COMPANY,
)
Respondent.
GWENDOLYN W. KLINGLER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT.
WILLIAM F.
BUNN, ATTORNEY AT LAW, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF THE
RESPONDENT.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE
BOARD
(by I.
Goodman):
This matter comes before the Board on the February
14,
1977
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency) which alleged that,
on Saturday, May 29,
1976,
at approx-
imately 11:45 P.M.,
a train owned and operated by the Respondent,
the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company
(ICG), derailed at
a
railroad crossing near the center of the City of Stoy in Crawford
County,
Illinois.
A tank car containing virgin sulfuric acid,
which was owned by an initial Respondent in this case,
the General
American Transportation Corporation
(GATX), was ruptured in the
wreck and a portion of the liquid sulfuric acid was deposited on
the land,
creating a water pollution hazard.
Some acid entered
Big Creek and its tributary, Bennet Creek, causing the death of
fish and other aquatic
life in violation of Sections
12(a)
and
12(d)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (Act).
On March
2,
1977,
GATX filed a Motion to Dismiss the Com-
plaint as to GATX and the Board entered an Order denying this
motion on March
17,
1977.
After extensive discovery,
on November
29,
1979 the Board entered an Order which attempted to expedite
proceedings
in this case.
On February
1,
1980, the Agency filed
a Motion to Dismiss GATX as a respondent,
and the Board entered
an Order on February
21,
1980 which granted the Agency’s motion.
A hearing was held on October 30,
1981 and the parties filed a
Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement on November
10,
1981.
On May 29,
1976, at approximately 11:45 P.M.,
a tank car
containing
13,000 gallons of virgin sulfuric acid was punctured
45—373
—2
during the derailment and wreck of an ICG freight train.
The
rupture of this car resulted in a leak of sulfuric acid
‘tin
a
stream approximately the diameter of
a pencil,” which subsequently
ran into a ditch and into nearby Big Creek,
which
is a tributary
of the Embarras River.
(Stip.
2).
Sulfuric acid vapor was also
released directly into the atmosphere and carried by the wind,
so the local police immediately blocked all roads into the area
and about
200 persons in the immediate vicinity of the City of
Stoy evacuated their homes.
(Stip.
2).
Local officials on the scene
of the accident worked through-
out the night and tried to bring the situation under control by:
(1)
attempting to dam up the small ditch running into Big Creek
to prevent the acid from reaching the Embarras River;
(2) con-
structing cofferdams across the small ditch and Big Creek;
(3)
adding 40 tons of agricultural lime to Big Creek to try to neu-
tralize the acid and slow its progress through the creek;
(4)
spreading an additional
40 tons of lime at the spill area where
pools of acid had formed, and
(5) calling re—railing crews from
Hulcher Emergency Services,
Inc.
(Hulcher) to clear the track
and clean up the
16 derailed cars.
(Stip.
3—5).
Officials of
local emergency services agencies, representatives
of Illinois
Departments
of Public Health,
Conservation, and the Environmental
Protection Agency,
ICG train crew and repairmen,
and ICG of f1—
cials were at the site throughout most of the duration of the
incident.
(Stip.
7).
Although “the car containing the sulfuric acid had stopped
leaking,
with about a foot of acid remaining
in its bottom,”
around 2:00 A.M. on May 30,
1976,
fumes from the creek and spill
areas made the workers’
clean—up operations very difficult.
(Stip.
4).
An Agency official, who arrived on the scene shortly
before dawn, observed that a significant fish kill had occurred
in the stream where the acid was trapped, even though the acid
had not yet reached the Big Creek dam and had been contained in
less than two miles of the ditch and stream.
(Stip.
4).
It was
subsequently learned that a large amount of acid which had not
been neutralized by the lime treatment had washed past the dam
during heavy rainfalls and contributed to the fish kill.
(Stip.
6).
During an extensive follow—up investigation by Agency personnel
and Department of Conservation investigators,
it was ascertained
that,
because of heavy rains in the two days following the wreck,
an accurate fish kill count
could not be determined.
(Stip.
5—7).
The parties have stipulated that “Hulcher’s special chemical
handling team,
utilized by ICG and other carriers to handle simi-
lar spills in the past, was not requested
(nor required,
in ICG’s
judgment)
by ICG.”
(Stip.
5).
The Agency believes that “had
Hulcher’s chemical handling team been called to the scene at the
outset,
the acid may have been contained more quickly and more
effectively neutralized.”
(Stip.
8—9).
Accordingly, the Agency
contends that ICG failed to “recognize swiftly enough
its inability
to control the situation” and asserts that the Respondent did not
act
in
a “reasonably expeditious manner to call
in personnel qual-
ified to contain and neutralize the spilled acid and prevent
45—374
—3—
further environmental damage,”
(Stip.
8).
On the other hand,
ICG
asserts that “in view of the prompt local containment and
neutralization efforts,” it acted promptly and diligently by
calling only the Huicher re-railing crew and by continuing
“neutralization, containment and clean—up efforts at the spill
site under the direction of a representative of the Association
of Mierican Railroad’s Bureau of Explosives.”
(Stip,
8-9).
Moreover, the Respondent has emphasized that
it
has
experienced
great financial loss and has spent over
$150,000.00
in
connection
with
the
derailment,
(Stip.
8).
The
proposed
settlement
agreement
provides
that
the
Respon-
dent
admits
the
allegations
alleged
in
the
Complaint
and
provides
that
if,
in
the
Board’s
discretion,
a
penalty
is
appropriate,
it
shall
be
for
a
sum
not
to
exceed $500.00
(Stip.
10).
The Board
finds
that
the
Respondent,
the
Illinois
Central
Gulf
Railroad
Company,
has
violated Sections
12(a)
and
12(d)
of
the
Act
and
will order ICG to pay a
penalty
of
$500.00.
This
Opinion
constitutes
the
Board’s
findings
of
fact
and
conclusions of law
in
this
matter.
ORDER
It is the Order
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board
that:
1.
The Respondent,
the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad
Company, has violated Sections 12(a)
and 12(d)
of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act.
2.
Within 30 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall, by certified check or money order payable to the State of
Illinois, pay a penalty of $500.00 which is to be sent to:
Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Fiscal
Services
Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
3.
The Respondent shall
comply
with
all
the
terms
and
con-
ditions of the Stipulation and Proposal
for Settlement filed on
November
10,
1981,
which is incorporated by reference as if fully
set forth herein.
I,
Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby ce~tifytha
the above Opinion and Order
were adop~7don the
J7
day ~
1982 by a
stan
L,
Mo:
Illinois Polluti
Control Board
45—375