WOOD RIVER, IL (KMOX)For a third straight day, residents of a section of Wood River and Hartford, Illinois were told to stay inside Saturday morning because of the nearby haz mat situation, and the Wood River Police Chief says they should expect to have to again Sunday
Brad Wells tells KMOX the water curtain being used on the four rail cars that are venting spent sulfuric acid contains the vapors in the daytime and at night, but the vapors begin to rise as the atmosphere begins to warm around daybreak. "The numbers that the monitoring is receiving is at the level we feel it's prudent to issue the code-red," he says. "The conditions of tomorrow appear to be the same, so we anticipate this may happen again tomorrow."
When asked why they are recommending people stay inside, close their windows and shut off their air conditioning rather than evacuating, Wells says, "That is the best recommendation that we can get from the experts that handle these type things. What people choose to do after that is, obviously, at their discretion."
Wells says he has no idea how long the cycle will continue. The vapor has been venting from the rail cars since about 4:30 Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is referring the Wood River railroad car leak to the state Attorney General. Phillips 66 Company in Madison County is accused of violating the EPA Act and state regulations over the four tanker cars that are venting the spent sulphuric acid vapors.