From the Village Voice– Kathy Sands
TrueFlo Solutions, LLC met up with the Attorney General’s lawyers again on Friday via a conference call, again with Judge Thomas Dinn. The Attorney General’s lawyer Ms. Medina reported that TrueFlo was up to 85% in compliance with the clean up orders from IEPA. Judge Dinn ordered the injunction to continue and another status consultation was set for Friday, September 29 at 9:15 at the courthouse.
Other problems still exist though. Although TrueFlo has been notified by the State of Illinois that the well area is to be fenced with a padlocked gate, to this date there has been no compliance with that order.
Section 240.795 of the Illinois Regulations concerning Commercial Saltwater Disposal Wells, says “All commercial saltwater disposal well Facilities shall be surrounded by a fence of at least 4 feet in height above ground level and a gate with a lock to restrict access to the facility. The facility must be kept locked from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.” This is to discourage dumpers from coming on the facility grounds after hours.
Looking at records from the IEPA that date back to 2010 and forward, from other disposal sites all over White County, it seems there is a never ending list of problems, from leaking pumps to using pressures higher than the permit allows. Is it corruption, negligence, or simply human error that causes these issues? With the ongoing troubles concerning wastewater disposal sites, it’s not hard to fault the average citizen’s mistrust of the industry.
What SAFE has learned from citizens near the spill site and down the creek:
TrueFlo is having issues cleaning up their mess. The Landowner who called the state about the incident is still concerned with the oil in the creek and that it is killing the trees. Does the judge know about these photos?
As the reporter states in the article above, there is no fence around the TrueFlo facility which is required by state law. Rumor even has it that the NY owned company has had their water shut off due to unpaid bill.
If money is an issue, then SAFE has concerns about the ability of the company to perform their operations in accordance with the law. We are concerned that this clean up job is just a cover up job. While it may be said that we have the strictest rules and regulations in the country, it doesn’t mean a hill of beans when enforcement is substandard, and bribery and corruption is the s.o.p. of IDNR oil and gas.