Bubbly Creek Spill

Following an oil spill reported Wednesday evening, the USEPA Region 5 is leading the clean-up in Bubbly Creek. The agency arrived on site Thursday morning and are actively cleaning the area and still searching for the point source. There are crews working hard both on land and boat. Pockets of oil were discovered as far south as California Avenue. The windy conditions today are affecting the river’s current to head east towards the lake.

The USDA is also on site rescuing geese, ducks, and turtles and taking them to a nearby recovery center in Blue Island.

There continues to be lots of tv crews on site at Bubbly Creek and we will do our best to keep you updated on the origin of the spill.

Conditions
Currently, river access at Park 571 and the boat launch are closed off and all activity is suspended. Yesterday the USEPA set up soft booms to block further travel of the oil from the creek into the flow of the river. They will set up more soft booms and add hard booms along the sea wall as cleanup continues.

What Can We Do?
A call to alert authorities was made Wednesday evening, but the pollution was spotted as early as Monday, October 23 when someone reported a goose covered in oil. If you see something unusual or any kind of pollution on the river, please call Friends and the MWRD Dump Line: (800) 332-DUMP (3687) .

Many have offered to help with clean-up efforts.  We thank you for the support.

For any media inquiries, please contact Margaret Frisbie or call (312) 939-0490, ext. 22.