Chad Gamble, Lansing’s director of public service, said Schultz Inc., a hazardous waste disposal company, is collecting and disposing of the oil left from the spill. The total amount of pollutant found in the river is estimated to be around five gallons.
The majority of the substance was removed from the river by Friday, but Gamble said every time there is rainfall, a sheen can be seen on the river coming from one specific storm drain.
Gamble said this isn’t the first time a substance has come from the storm drain in question. Every time the city has gotten a report of pollution or has witnessed substances in the river, the pollutants have come from the same drain.
“We have been noticing increased surface pollutants in this area,” he said.
The city doesn’t investigate every small release. Most of the pollutants in the past have been able to be picked up by absorbent oil pads.
Gamble said it isn’t necessary to spend $20,000 to $30,000 on an investigation when “it was probably someone being careless.”
When the city did inspect public sewer systems to try and find the source of it, results were inconclusive.
But this incident raised an alarm among city officials.
“We realized this is more than someone dumping a pint of oil in the system. It’s not just your standard motor oil. That’s why we ratcheted (the investigation) up,” Gamble said.
Ten days after police and firefighters were dispatched to the scene, the city of Lansing is focusing their efforts on discovering who or what may have caused the spill in the first place.
Contrary to what has been widely reported, Gamble said an analytical report showed no traces of lead, mercury, arsenic or selenium in the water.
“(There were) no PCBs, no heavy metals. But there were several chemicals with volatile organic compounds,” he said.
Officials from the city of Lansing have now engaged one of their environmental consultants to assist in a detailed investigation; first, on the public sewer system and second, on the private sewer system to see if they can uncover the source of the contaminants.
Julie Powers, executive director of the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, said she’s happy to hear how seriously the city is taking the situation. She also said the Council is looking at the bigger picture.
“It’s terrible and it’s illegal.,” Powers said. “It’s not a huge amount of oil, our concern is that this has happened multiple times.”
The Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council is one of many branches committed to working with communities to appropriate policies in managing the watershed.
Gamble said the city values natural infrastructure and the waters in the state of Michigan, and the money expended to protect the waters shouldn’t go to waste.
“It is something we value greatly and we will continue working with that attitude and with the objective to determine where this pollutant came from,” he said.
