IEPA requested USEPA Region 5 on June 16, 2008, to support the flood recovery efforts in Keithsburg, Illinois after a levee failed on the Mississippi River. A deisel locomotive installed for show on top of the levee was submerged along with a caboose and a tugboat which was listing in the area and may have pumped it's bilge were the suspected sources of the observed deisel sheen.
Over half of the Village of Keithburg was flooded when the sand levee protecting the town gave way around June 14, 2008. Local officials and the Illinois DNR observed a strong deisel odor and sheen on June 16. Two oiled birds were found and a wildlife rehab contact was brought in to care for the birds.
USEPA responded with contractor Environmental Response on June 17 to contain and collect the deisel. No sheen was observed and the odor was faint. It is suspected that the sheen dissapated when the flood waters began to receed back into the main channel of the Mississippi. No sources were able to be identified.
