Politics & Government

Winnetka Finishes Oil Spill Clean-Up

A handful of Public Works crew members worked through the night on Tuesday to finish cleaning up a fuel oil spill.

A fuel oil spill identified on Tuesday was cleaned up by Wednesday morning, according to Winnetka officials.

"We finished the clean-up about 3 a.m.," said Public Works Director Steve Saunders. "The last thing we were working on was washing out the sewer line [between] where the fuel oil tank was hit and the lake."

Saunders said the environmental clean-up company gave a preliminary bill to the Village of Winnetka for about $25,000, noting that the village has a provision in its code that allows it to recoup the cost of clean-up from the responsible party.

Find out what's happening in Winnetka-Glencoewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read more:

In this case, the responsible party is the construction company that hit the fuel oil tank, which was 1,000-gallon sized tank, and created the leak into the sewer system, according to Rob Bahan, village manager.*

Find out what's happening in Winnetka-Glencoewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky said that it was hard to determine how much fuel oil leaked into the storm water, but he estimated 250 gallons in his report.

Here's a direct report from the village on the clean-up:

The spill cleanup began at about 3pm on July 19 and included:

  1. Deploying oil-absorbent booms at Elder Lane Beach to contain the spill to the immediate vicinity of the beach and to clean floating oil at the beach
  2. Plugging the storm sewer at appropriate locations to isolate further product discharge to the Lake
  3. Removal of spilled product at the site of the damaged tank
  4. Removal of product remaining in the tank
  5. Isolating contaminated areas of the storm sewer system and thoroughly flushing and cleaning the system.

The Word from the Coast Guard

Lieut. Leslie Downing of the Marine Safety Unit of the Coast Guard confirmed the village's report of the incident.

"The Village of Winnetka took all necessary courses of action to mitigate any further risks," Downing said.

On the question of environmental damage or impact, Downing said, "At present, there is not any environmental damage to the beach, lake, or wildlife suspected as a result of this spill."

A Village of Winnetka press release said the village is confident the spill will not negatively affect the village's drinking water quality.

At the time of publication, the Winnetka Park District had not announced a reopening of the Elder Lane Beach, though Saunders said he expected such an announcement soon.

It's Hot! Where to Go Instead

Tower Road Beach and Maple Street Beach are open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can receive text updates from the Park District about daily conditions by signing up here: Beach Conditions Text Alert Sign Up.


"Like" us on Facebook to receive news and participate in the conversation on Winnetka, Glencoe and Northfield: Patch on Facebook.

*Clarification: We added attribution on July 21 at 9 a.m.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here