Clouded, white water seen in a portion of Sugar Creek running through Bloomington on Thursday was the byproduct of a paint spill, according to city officials.
Multiple Bloomington agencies, including the fire department, public works and engineering, responded to an area between G.E. Road and Gill Street on Thursday evening following a report of a substance in Sugar Creek.
After a series of tests, the substance was identified as paint — though in a news release Friday, the Bloomington Fire Department said the paint in the water did not pose "a significant safety hazard to the public."
The spill was contained after crews placed multiple, absorbent tools called booms and socks along three places in the creek.
Crews also tracked the paint spill through the storm drainage system to a location on Gill Street; a city spokesperson said an ongoing investigation prevented the sharing of any further information, including the exact business or location to which the spilled had been traced.
A report was filed with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources was also notified, the city said.
The response to the paint spill was spurred, in part, by a report from someone who'd seen the white water walking along Sugar Creek — which is exactly what Ecology Action Center executive director Michael Brown said people should do if they suspect they're seeing pollution in any kind of waterway.
"When we do find pollution — dumping, spillage, contamination — that's out of the ordinary, reporting that can minimize the impact on our drinking water supplies and our waterways as recreation areas and wildlife habitats," Brown said.
And what lands in Sugar Creek might not stay in Sugar Creek: That waterway starts in Bloomington, but its waters eventually make their way down to the Sangamon River, then the Illinois River and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico.
"Everything we put into the water... by careless dumping, by runoff from our yards [and] chemicals we put on the streets — all of that gets into the water supply," he said. "It is a full cycle that we need to be cognizant of."
Brown said the Ecology Action Center received reports of the spill in Sugar Creek on Thursday evening but added that local government agencies that manage stormwater systems are more appropriate points of contact.
