United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region V
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

1. Site location

Remote wooded area 0.3 miles to the west of the intersection near 1100 E. Mine 24 Road and 1150 N. Licata Road, Benton, Illinois.  


2. Description of threat

IEPA/USEPA estimates that a release of 15 -20 barrels of crude oil product was released from an abandoned oil well.  It was determined that this product came from a pressurized crude oil well that released it’s contents to cover a 30-feet x 50-feet surface area.  A coating of oil is observed on the nearby tree branches approximately 30 feet high.  The oil flowed overland through 3 fingerlike extensions to the south from the well site location.  Crude oil is observed floating on surface-water within the banks of the following water courses:

- Unnamed Ditch directly downhill (South) of the abandoned oil well (crude oil)
- Sugar Creek (crude oil and sheen)
- Big Muddy River (sheen only)

3. Site background

According to local sources, this crude oil well was drilled in 1985 to a depth of 2685 feet and is screened from 2680 – 2685 feet below ground surface.   The actual date of oil release remains unknown at this time.

4. State and local actions to date

The Corps of Engineers deployed absorbent boom in Sugar Creek on Thursday, April 2, 2009.  This activity was performed on their property in an attempt to protect the Big Muddy River.  The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) deployed absorbent boom on April 3, 2009 in 3 locations to collect product that is moving down stream in both the Unnamed Ditch and Sugar Creek.  Again these activities were in an attempt to protect the Big Muddy River.  IEPA contacted U.S. EPA on April 3, 2009 asking for assistance.

Oil clean-up operations began at the site on the morning of April 4, 2009, with the following:

- OSC, Turner, mobilized an ERRS field crew of 12 technicians and 1 Removal Manager from Environmental Restoration, Inc. along with 1 START Project Manager, all located in St. Louis, MO.

­- An existing USACE site gate was unlocked and will be used to control ingress and egress to the spill site.  

­- OSC Turner instructed the removal contractor to immediately initiate oil recovery operations along with minor site clearing and grubbing operations.

-­ The spill location is quite remote and inaccessible therefore the clean-up is being performed with manual labor rather than heavy equipment.

- A roll-off-box was delivered to the site and will be used for future off-site disposal purposes.

- U.S. EPA completed the collection of liquid crude oil from the ground and the unnamed ditch on April 24, 2009.

- U.S. EPA completed the collection crude oil impacted leaf litter and debris on April 24, 2009.

- U.S. EPA completed all deployment measures used to protect surface waters from rain events.  All oil absorbent socks/booms materials were removed from the unnamed ditch and Sugar Creek.

- The USEPA oil well plugging contractor completed all concrete plugging activities of this abandoned well on April 23, 2009.  Illinois Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil & Gas from Centralia, Illinois supported U.S. EPA with additional oversight of the well plugging activities.  

- Transportation and off-site disposal of all oil impacted debris and oil absorbent materials was completed on April 27, 2009.

- START obtained copies of the original mineral rights lease agreement from the local recorders office.   These documents were scanned into digital format and given to the OSC.

None.   This project is completed.

-­ Due to heavy rains, outstanding site restoration activities will be completed when conditions allow.

- Ingress/egress to the abandoned well was hampered by wet/muddy site conditions.