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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Environment - Even more on: Major pipeline break near Indiana border
Updating this ILB entry from Oct. 5, 2008, Len Wells of the Evansville Courier & Press reports today:
ELLERY, Ill. — The cost to clean up a massive crude oil spill in rural Wayne County, Ill., last summer now includes the purchase of land most affected by the event.Court records reveal Marathon Oil Corp. has spent more than $750,000 to purchase two parcels of land at the center of the spill.
When Marathon's 20-inch interstate transit line ruptured on Aug. 20, some 5,790 barrels, or 243,180 gallons, of crude oil spilled onto a remote farm northwest of Golden Gate.
The largest area affected by the spill was a farm known as the Southern Illinois Land Trust, owned by Dr. William E. Ricketts of Crete, Ill. A nearby timber-lined slough, owned by Robert and Janice Anniss of rural Ellery, also was impacted by the spill.
The high-pressure pipeline that ruptured runs from a tank farm at Patoka, Ill., to Cattletsburg, Ky.
Deed transfers filed in Wayne County Clerk Donna Endsley's office reveal that Marathon paid the Southern Illinois Land Trust $520,000 for 105.69 acres, or just more than $4,900 per acre. * * *
"Considering the geographic area covered, the impact appears to be fairly minimal," said Illinois EPA spokesperson Maggie Carson. Because of its remote location, no population centers were affected, and emergency workers were able to keep the oil out of the nearby Little Wabash River, which is the drinking water source for several small communities in Wayne County.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 29, 2009 08:06 AM
Posted to Environment