Lang
8/17/19
A mysterious “sheen” spotted on Ralston Creek in Iowa City is likely from an old industrial site.
That’s according to a representative from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. DNR environmental specialist Ben Stracuzzi told The Cedar Rapids Gazette that the ongoing sheen is near a federal superfund site near the corner of Van Buren and Burlington Streets. The area, now the site of the Iowa-Illinois Apartments, was home to a Tri-City Railway and Light Company coal gas manufacturing operation from 1857 to 1937. The area was also the site of an Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Company service facility until 1971. Oily wastes were found at the site in 2003, leading to an investigation from the Environmental Protection Agency. That led to Mid-American Energy removing the contents of an underground tank in 2004.
Stracuzzi told the newspaper the DNR believes there is a responsible party that would be liable for any cleanup.
According to a DNR news release, the ongoing sheen has been traced to a seep in the bed of the creek.
City officials placed a boom across the creek to contain the sheen south of the intersection of Burlington and Van Buren streets.
DNR staff on-site suspected a petroleum-based source and have collected water samples for laboratory analysis. A DNR inspector has not seen any dead fish or other obvious environmental impacts.
The DNR will continue to seek the source of the contaminant, monitor cleanup efforts and consider appropriate enforcement action.