(HARWOOD HEIGHTS) Residents of a northwest suburban apartment building are still out of their homes Wednesday because of a leaking underground tank at a nearby gas station, state environmental officials said.
On Friday, the Illinois EPA learned about an underground storage tank leaking at a Citgo station at 4555 N. Nagle in Harwood Heights, the agency said in a statement.
The leak is affecting both a sump pump at the station, as well as the sump pump of an adjacent apartment building, IEPA said.
The state Fire Marshall closed the station and evacuated the apartment building. Crews are ventilating the building, but residents were still prohibited from returning home.
A contractor has pumped about 27,000 gallons of a water/fuel mixture out of a well at the station since Friday to relieve pressure on the system, the IEPA said. Crews found a connector hose and rubber pieces on the tank sumps were leaking.
The IEPA is seeking an order from the Attorney General’s office requiring the station’s operator, Maev LLC, to control the leak and clean up any contamination, the statement said.
