treatment plant explosion

[Norm M]

There was an explosion at the sewer treatment plant on the Kankakee river this morning. it was reported that an estimated 1.5 million gallons of sludge was released into the Kankakee river before it was contained.

 

I'm sure the cold water, the large amounts of shoreline ice surrounding the open water portions and the total ice cover in other parts of the river will hamper efforts to do anything with the sludge.I have not heard of any plan so far to deal with the sludge in the water.

 

For those that don't know the treatment plant is a few miles upstream of the state park. the river is totally ice covered upstream of Warner bridge and down thru the lower end of the state park.

 

I fear that the sludge may deplete oxygen in the water. That combined with the cold water already stressing fish could make for a large fish kill.

[Mike Clifford]

Yet another problem this river must endure.

Will be interesting to see how it is handled.

[dansgonefishing]

I am hoping that the cold water which has higher oxygen will help. The bacteria in the sludge should also be very slow to grow which should minimize the impact. It will be curious to see what caused the spill and if we can learn from it in time to save similar incidents from happening on other rivers. Just

think of all the treatment plants alongs the Fox River. Maybe the warm weather and rain at the end of the week will dilute this mess and get it moving out of the system rather quickly.

 

First the Rock River now the Kankakee. These ecosystems are so fragile:(

 

Dan C.

[Travis]

I have read up on this. Every article I read says thousands not millions.

 

Lets hope they are right.

 

More information here.

 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/12/explosion-destroys-building-at-water-plant-in-kankakee.html

[Norm M]

yes they are now saying less spilled than originally reported but exact amount unknown.

 

The less the better, this river doesn't need any more big hits.

[Mike Clifford]

What's really interesting to me is how the inevitable happens on any of our urban rivers each and every year. Thousands of fish die.

What's most interesting to me is how the problems are perceived by people, and the actions taken.

Visit the Conservation forum to see how the group opposed to the Megadairy on the Apple River just got their asses handed to them in court courtesy of pathetic IL laws regarding protection of our rivers and streams.

Completely different scenario, but the song remains the same.

What are you and I going to do about it?

They have a permit to discharge, but something blew up.

Worst case is that thousands of fish die and somebody will need to restock to get nature close to the balance it was.

Post that some guy kept a couple short smallies in a bucket at Rock Creek, and the forums go up for grabs.

Catastrophes like this get a few responses and fade to black.

Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Shocking tells us how many smallmouth are able to be accounted for at a given time in specific locations.

Spill something nasty in the water, and we'll know for certain how many were thriving for miles.

[Norm M]

I spent most of my day off Tuesday monitoring 4 different areas, from the site of the spill down into the state park. I made my last check about 4PM and had seen no obvious signs of fish or wildlife in distress or dead. That doesn't mean none occurred, just that I saw none in the places and times I checked. I do worry about the long term effects on benthic macro inverts, crustaceans, clams and vegetation downstream from the site. I also saw no containment devices downstream from the site. Dilution is the best solution? Pray for rain/snowmelt this weekend to flush it out? I hope there is more than that but I wouldn't be surprised it there is not.

 

Amazingly they let folks use the sledding hill right next to the plant yesterday and there was no one keeping me from walking the bike path that runs between the river and the plant. My guess is that is a sign that officials don't think it presents a public health hazard. I did not see any type of "official folk or vehicles" while running up and down the river yesterday. Of course, it possible we passed each other or they were there when I was doing other things I had to do.

 

I truely hope that the spill was much smaller than originally reported. One good sign was I saw hundreds of ducks on the river below the sewage plant discharge area.

[ronk]

At the heart of it the principle reason for all of the environmental problems this magnificent planet unique in all the universe faces comes down to the fact that there are simply too many of us crawling around on it.The most important environmental thing we can do is to curb our species growth.Without that the rest is moot.

[Jim Kast]

At the heart of it the principle reason for all of the environmental problems this magnificent planet unique in all the universe faces comes down to the fact that there are simply too many of us crawling around on it.The most important environmental thing we can do is to curb our species growth.Without that the rest is moot.

 

Sooooo.... who do we line up and start taking out?

[mlahart]

I talked to a friend who was hunting the river in the state park on Tuesday afternoon(last day of duck season). There was open water at least off blinds #7 and #8. He said the water was clear at that time with no apparent contamination. But, he said he would be washing down everything, waders, decoys, etc. when he got home.

Are there any official reports from the EPA or DNR or anyone?

[Mike Clifford]

Just finished a great book titled "Armageddon, Oil and Terror".

It focuses on the "end times".

Reading Revelations in the Bible is like watching the news today.

It's all going away eventually, gang.

[ronk]

Sooooo.... who do we line up and start taking out?

Cub fans.

[Jim Kast]

Cub fans.

LMAO.... good one!

[Norm M]

Sooooo.... who do we line up and start taking out?

fly fishing sox fans

[jim bielecki]

I think one thing we all could do is continue to put pressure on our state representatives. I for one do this almost every week. I'm not going away and neither is the message. I'll send a bag of sludge to their office if I feel I need to. Like many of us...I'm tired of this "crap" from happening and yet it's ignored by many and it repeats itself over and over and over again. The Fox River is due for another spill as well. The message I got according to the EPA, the state needs millions to upgrade the waste water facilities that are in operation. The money isn't there....guess what....the spill will occur, it's just a matter of when. I think it's time for a back up plan....instead of waiting for a spill to happen of even if it does happen, the river water should be diverted to a filtering facility to protect the rest of the river downstream. Of course this will never happen, it costs money. So what else can we do? Educate, educate and educate some more. With proper education, you hope that the average person will recognize the importance of an "environmental tax" to protect the resource. Why should the environment depend on outdoorsman when it is mostly influenced by society...shouldn't they pay for it? The IDNR is on the right track....there is a donation box that all of us should check to fund the resource. I think one of the ideas some fisherman have in Illinois is that the state "owes" them. This is crazy! Everything costs money...plain and simple. You want to catch fish, it costs money. You want clean water to fish in...it costs money. You want to irradicate invasives...it costs money. Fishing can be free...but if you want to catch something...it costs money. In our club it costs us time. Some of us volunteer to make a difference....being a member of ISA makes a difference....all of us together makes a difference.

[Scott Ferguson]

Sending a bag of sludge to a state representative will get his attention but it will label the sender as an extremist crackpot who will never be taken seriously. The ISA has made it's reputation by being a serious, professional organization who is willing to work with the DNR and state politicians to accomplish it's goals. If you can be friendly and professional, you can get to talk to the politicians face to face and they may listen to you. They may not do what you want, but they will listen. If you become known as that crazy guy who sends bags of crap to Springfield, you'll never get in the door.