The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is investigating the June 4 release of 8,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia from a storage tank at Conserv FS in Winnebago County in northern Illinois. The leak reportedly went on for 12 hours after a tanker truck owned by Schoff Farm Service (SFS) Inc. hit a valve on an ammonia loading rack at the Conserv FS facility near Winnebago, Ill.
Authorities said emergency responders issued an advisory to local residents to shelter in place, while firefighters used about 100,000 gallons of water to control the spread of the ammonia cloud. A specialized hazardous materials response team in Level A protective suits worked into the early morning on June 5 to try to stop the leak.
“No evacuations were necessary,” Win-Bur-Sew Fire District Chief Don Crawford told Green Markets. “The people downwind from the scene were advised to stay inside and keep their doors and windows closed.”
IEPA has issued citations against Conserv FS and SFS for several violations of the Illinois Pollution Control Board regulations and the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, and has also asked the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to seek an injunction to require both companies to immediately clean up the area affected by the leak.
Crawford reported that there wasn’t much dispersal of the vapor cloud beyond the farm service plant, but ammonia-contaminated water did flow into a nearby creek and caused a fish kill in a private pond downstream from the plant. Local reports said Conserv built makeshift dams on June 5 to try to contain any remaining water on the site, and also installed an aerator in the pond to help dissipate ammonia.