MEC&F Expert Engineers : Some of the 10 to 20 gallons of pavement sealer that spilled at a Wonder Lake home ended up in the village's namesake lake in Illinois

Monday, July 20, 2015

Some of the 10 to 20 gallons of pavement sealer that spilled at a Wonder Lake home ended up in the village's namesake lake in Illinois

Pavement sealer spill flows into Wonder Lake



(Matthew Apgar)
WONDER LAKE, WA

Some of the 10 to 20 gallons of pavement sealer that spilled at a Wonder Lake home ended up in the village's namesake lake, a fire official said.

The Wonder Lake Fire Protection District responded to the intersection of Pheasant Road and East Lake Shore Drive for the incident, which occurred when the sealant got into a spring-fed ditch that feeds into Wonder Lake, Battalion Chief Dave Bruchsaler said. The home is just across the street from the lake.

"A little bit got into the lake," Bruchsaler said. "That’s why it’s a significant concern for us."

The spill had stopped by the time crews arrived, but they dammed up the ditch and used absorbent to clean the spill up, he said. The process took nearly three hours.

It doesn't take much sealant to cause a sheen to appear on the water, and none of the appropriate agencies that were notified such as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency seemed too concerned, Bruchsaler said.

Incidents such as this don't happen very often, and the real concern was preventing more sealant from getting into the lake, Bruchsaler said.