Adventures With the IEPA

A few weeks ago, the Peoria Heights Fire Department was called in to take control of a very odd situation. A house in the Village had a water pipe break, and it had been spewing out water for a few days (at least). The water had saturated the ground outside of the house, causing a heating fuel tank, buried right behind the house, to begin to shift and break open.

There was still a lot of heating fuel in the tank, and the rupture caused the fuel to leak out. We were soon in the midst of a possible calamity to the ground and the water surrounding this area. Our Fire Chief Norm Reichert, and every other available emergency personnel in the Village not only took control of the situation, but soon had it completely under wraps.

With some help and guidance from people in Peoria, and from the Illinois EPA, our emergency personnel stopped what could have been a major problem from happening. Using good judgment and utilizing their emergency training and skills, several hours after the first sign of the fuel coming from the yard, the situation was under control.

Shortly after the incident, I received the following e-mail from the attending representative from the IEPA:

"Mayor Allen,
It is was a pleasure working with your fire department. If it were not for their actions taken on the night of Feb 12, the surface water nearby would have surely been impacted along with additional properties.
While I have been at this site multiple times, I keep checking for any impacts to the surface water, and find none. I continue to attribute this too the actions taken on the night of this event.
This is the latest update with some photos. I will not sent the additional photos as described in the email, as you can just drive by.
I have relayed my recommendations to my superiors, that the Peoria Heights FD and Public Works be recognized by the Illinois EPA.
If you have question regarding this incident, please do not hesitate to call.
Respectfully,
George Krebs
EPS 3
Illinois EPA
Office of Emergency Response"

Not much more needs to be added. Outstanding job by our VOLUNTEER Fire & Emergency Personnel.