Oil leak in Marion traced to open spigot

Nearly 250 gallons of used motor oil that made its way into West End Creek was the result of a spigot left open accidentally, Marion city officials said Tuesday.
The weekend oil spill that started from an above ground tank at Hale's Automotive, at 408 N Court St., stretched up to 1.6 miles downstream.
"Somebody had left the tank spigot open unintentionally," Mayor Bob Butler said, adding the spill has been cleaned up and there was never any real danger of the chemicals reaching the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge, roughly a mile away.
"It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime occurrences," he said. "We were able to get on top of it in time to block it off and clean it up. It wasn't too much volume but it was enough to be concerned about."
The auto shop owner could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The reason the oil spill made it as far as it did down the creek was because it was a couple of days before anyone noticed the spigot had been left open, Marion Fire Chief Jerry Odum said.
Soil samples will be taken this week and submitted to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to determine if additional remediation is needed, Odum said.
Officials don't believe there will be any lasting impact on the creek.
"It has been cleaned up and the booms have been removed and the EPA is satisfied that it has been mitigated," Odum said.
The three-day cleanup done by Summit Environmental of Evansville, Indiana cost the city $6,000 a day and more than $20,000 overall, according to officials.