Two Adams County, Illinois agricultural levees failed in the early morning hours of June 18, 2008, near the town of Meyer, Illinois, and just south of the Mississippi River Lock & Dam 20. The levee breaches occurred near the same locations where heavy flooding was experienced in 1993. As a result of the 2008 levee failures, the entire town of Meyer had to be evacuated and over 33,000 acres of adjacent farmland was flooded.
Around 6 a.m. on June 18, the Indian Graves south levee failed flooding nearly 4000 additional farm acres.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) staff connected with the Emergency Operations Center located in Springfield, Illinois, requested assistance from the U. S. EPA Region 5 Emergency Response Branch to respond to a orphan fuel tank located on Lima Lake which is near the town of Meyer, Illinois. The fuel tank washed up in Lima Lake as a result of levee failure and flooding to the localized area. The exact date the tank became dislodged is yet known.
