DANVILLE – Illinois Environmental Protection Agency officials will be meeting with the owners of Double S Liquid Feed Services to work out a final plan to ensure total cleanup of a molasses spill discovered earlier this year and to ensure that a similar accident won't find its way into nearby ditches again.

Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the IEPA, said the agency is in the process of setting up a meeting with representatives from Double S to discuss what the agency hopes is a final resolution to the situation. That meeting should be scheduled in the next two weeks, she said, with its primary focus on cleaning up the source area, while also making sure that the animal-feed producer prevents future spills.

"They've done a lot of work, so we are very optimistic we can work out these details," Carson said.

The owners of Double S declined to comment on the situation Tuesday.

The IEPA began an investigation on June 1 after residents along Mabin Street in Danville complained to the agency and state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, about a very strong odor that they believed was coming from a spill along the railroad tracks. According to the investigation report, it was discovered that the ditches were dark colored and odorous, and these conditions were the result of operations at Double S.

The agency tested samples of the liquid in the ditch, which runs adjacent to the CSX railroad line and to the north of Double S Liquid Feed Services, 726 N. Bowman Ave., Danville.

Initial testing revealed the liquid, which contained molasses and a type of fatty acid used in production of liquid feed at Double S, posed no health risk. IEPA officials could not determine when the spill occurred or exactly how it occurred, but began working with Double S and CSX to get the substance cleaned up.

Since then, the IEPA has received complete laboratory test results, said Black, who has continued to follow the situation after meeting with IEPA officials and area residents in early June.

Black said final tests have confirmed that the substance is molasses-based, does not include any pesticides or heavy metals, but could pose a risk to the environment if it were to reach rivers and streams.

IEPA officials determined that although the liquid was on railroad property along the tracks, it was coming from Double S, which produces animal feeds. As a result, both companies have been held responsible and were cited by the IEPA, along with the city of Danville.

All three violators have had to submit responses to the agency explaining actions they have taken to remedy the situation and any preventative actions.

Carson said the IEPA signed off Tuesday on the city's response to the violation, which included addressing some stormwater runoff issues. CSX, she said, has also submitted its response, but the agency still has it under review, she said.

Molasses and fatty acids are delivered to Double S by rail, and the IEPA believes that some of the materials were spilled and then washed by rainwater into the ditches where they began to decompose, and the decomposition process, though not directly harmful to human health, does produce a foul odor, according to the IEPA fact sheet handed out to residents in June.

Double S had to submit a plan to that IEPA that included proposed changes for the future, and Carson said that plan was denied by IEPA officials, who want to ensure the same situation doesn't happen again. Carson said she did not have details about what IEPA officials did not like about the Double S plan or what agency officials would prefer.

But, she said, the Double S plan "was not adequate to deal with the situation in hand."