CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Safety is the biggest concern for cleanup crews working on a fuel spill in the suburbs.
Parts of Route 83 and the Cal-Sag Channel are closed after a pipeline carrying jet fuel ruptured and it could take workers until Wednesday to fix it and re-open that part of the highway.
Palos park resident Randy Swanson woke up early Monday morning to an unusually pungent odor; the result of a ruptured gas pipeline near the Cal-Sag canal. The leak occurred around 3 a.m.
"It was a heavy petroleum based smell. It was a little irritating, even this afternoon. Now, it's been irritating in the sinuses and your eyes burn if you are outside."
The 12-inch pipeline was carrying jet fuel from refineries in East Chicago and Indiana to O'hare. State and federal agencies, working with the pipeline's owner-- West Shore Pipeline of Arlington Heights--worked quickly to contain the spill using containment booms. Air quality monitors were also placed nearby. Route 83 was closed, so repairs wouldn't be hindered by passing traffic.
Village Manager Rick Boehm said the closure will impact a lot of people.
"Well it's going to impact many people. They use 83 for their daily commute and it's about a two mile stretch of road that's going to close down between LaGrange road or 45 and Southwest highway."
A West Shore spokesperson told FOX Chicago News that about 500 gallons of jet fuel may have spilled, and the cause of the rupture is not yet known.
The leakage, he said, was stopped in less than a minute.
This is the second pipeline rupture for West Shore in the recent weeks. On July 17, a 10-inch pipeline carrying gasoline from Chicago to Green Bay burst about 30 miles northwest of Milwaukee, spilling about 55,000 gallons of gas, and leading to concerns about groundwater contamination. The fact that Monday's leak involved jet fuel may have helped with containment.
"What I've been told, you learn a lot in these situations, is that the jet fuel is real buoyant, it does not sink to the bottom, so it can be contained up on the surface," said Boehm.
