By Marney Simon
Bugle Staff
www.buglenewspapers.com
Village trustees have taken the step of amending the code of ordinances, to protect Shorewood and its residents if a hazardous material spill occurs.
On June 26, the village board approved an ordinance allowing assessment of costs associated with cleanup of hazardous material and gives the dollar figures for what to charge anyone who causes a spill in the village limits.
The purpose — to help alleviate the cost of cleanup for taxpayers when a hazardous spill happens within the village boundary that requires the dispatch of police, fire, other governmental agencies, or contractors.
Shorewood is home to highways, a rail line, light industry, businesses, residences and underground pipelines. In 2017, a train derailment in Plainfield stretched that village’s resources, requiring quick response from police, fire, mutual aid, and contractors. Cleanup of such an event can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
The amendment to the Hazardous Materials section of the village code gives Shorewood the opportunity to recoup some of those costs.
“It’s very simple, the spiller pays. You make a mess, we go clean it up, we’ll send you a bill,” said Shorewood Police Chief Aaron Kilma, noting that the ordinance mirrors those in neighboring communities.
“I [started working on] this after the train derailment in Plainfield last year, that’s what it got it going. We have pipelines, we have everything else here. It just makes sense,” Kilma said.
The ordinance defines the following terms:
Container — receptacle to store or transport goods (cargo container, tanks, train cars, barrels, pipelines, cans, drums.
Occurrence — release or substantial threat of release of hazardous material or pesticide from a facility, vehicle, container
Release — actual or substantial threat of spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leeching, dumping, vaporizing, evaporating, or disposing of a hazardous substance or pesticide into the environment.
Responsible party — person who own or has custody of a hazardous substance or pesticide, or of the vehicle, container containing the hazardous material or pesticide that is released. Or one who causes or substantially contributes to the cause of an occurrence.
The amendment allows the village to charge any responsible party for removal of the released material a rate of $250 per hour per responding vehicle; $100 per hour per piece of additional equipment needed to mitigate or resolve an occurrence; $70 per hour per person responding on behalf of the village; and the actual replacement cost value for any item expended for the mitigation or removal of the substance released.
The responsible party would also be required to reimburse the village for costs associated with mutual aid calls and to pay the cost of any specialized service contractor needed to address the release.