St. Charles officials say lead paint flakes in Fox River came from UP rail overpass

Conversations about the downtown dam in St. Charles have shed an extra spotlight on the environmental health of the Fox River.

An ecologist walking along the riverbank in town noticed something troubling – big orange flakes of lead-based paint.

The paint flakes are not related to the dam, but, according to city officials, came from an old Union Pacific Railroad bridge near Illinois Route 31.

St. Charles officials said the company has since been served with a violation notice from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency with a 45-day window to provide a mitigation plan.

Neither the IEPA nor a UP official could immediately be reached.

Local ecologist Steve Leffler said he witnessed orange lead-based paint flakes falling off the old railroad bridge and into the culvert that drains into the Fox River in St. Charles. (Photo Provided By Steve Leffler)

The ecologist, Steve Leffler, director of the River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles, first witnessed the large flakes of chipped paint entering a culvert that channels into the river.

“They were old, big pancake-seized pieces of paint,” Leffler said during a May 18 city meeting. “I took a couple of them and got them tested and it turns out they were 18% lead. So, I turned that information over to the city.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, lead can be highly toxic to a water-based ecosystem.

The heavy metal does not degrade well over time, settling into the riverbed, poisoning plants and aquatic life as it bioaccumulates in small creatures like plankton and insect larvae. As larger animals consume the smaller creatures, the lead is passed into their bodies causing neurological damage and reproductive failure.

Because lead doesn’t just wash downstream, the detrimental impacts on the ecosystem and its food-chain can persist for decades.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency served Union Pacific Railroad a violation and order to devise a mitigation plan to clean-up lead-based paint flakes from entering the Fox River watershed in St. Charles. (Photo Provided by Steve Leffler)

City Administrator Heather McGuire said the city reached out to Union Pacific Railroad but had not received a response as of the May 18 meeting.

She said the city worked with State Sen. Donald DeWitte and the IEPA to get a violation notice for remediation to the UP. The company is currently within their 45-day response period.

“It needs to be them repairing it and figuring out the solution because part of what they’re obligated to do is collect de-pulverized lead so it’s not draining further into the Fox River,” McGuire said.

The chair of the city’s Natural Resources Commission, Loren Nagy, has been coordinating with the city regarding the incident.

According to the city, the IEPA is waiting for Union Pacific Railroad’s response and action plan before next steps are taken.