Environmental threat lingers months after massive oily spill into Chicago canal

Nearly half a million gallons of liquid asphalt spilled into the storied canal of the Chicago River earlier this year, leading to a massive cleanup that is continuing almost nine months later.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overseen the removal of almost two tons of oil-based asphalt that the agency says spilled from Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co., a Forest View business operating along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

While the company has been ordered by the EPA to modify its safety practices to avoid future spills into the water, the agency hasn’t issued any penalty or even a notice of violation almost nine months after the problem was detected. The business is responsible for the cleanup, however. Officials with St. Louis-based Apex Oil Co., which owns Petroleum Fu