(WSB photo, Thursday afternoon)
More than a week after a Coleman Oil tanker truck spilled thousands of gallons of gasoline at the West Marginal/Chelan/Spokane/Delridge intersection, a cleanup crew was still on scene when we went through the intersection Thursday afternoon. We’ve since obtained more followup information from Seattle Public Utilities:
The responsible party hired an environmental consultant and cleanup contractor. SPU monitors and advises on their activities. SPU’s goal is to ensure that pollution in the stormwater system doesn’t leave and is cleaned out.
The Oil and Water Separator (OWS) is still operating. There is also a large pneumatic plug in the stormwater pipe downstream from the spill. The plug blocks polluted flows from heading downstream and into the Duwamish. The contractor will also be pressure washing our pipes between the spill and the plug.
Most of the spilled fuel went into the oil water separator (OWS). The contractor has pumped out both the OWS and the pipes behind the plug. Collected materials have either been recycled or are being processed as hazardous waste. Early numbers indicate that we’ve recovered over 2000 gallons of gasoline, but we won’t know the final amount until the responsible party reports and Department of Ecology verifies.
Ecology and SPU have monitored related outfalls along the Duwamish and have seen sheen. Department of Ecology has taken samples to determine the environmental impacts.
We will bill the responsible party for our time and materials, and we will investigate the incident under Seattle Municipal Code 22.800.
We’ll continue checking back, with the Department of Ecology too.
No one was hurt when one of the truck’s tanks went sideways the night of Wednesday, August 1st, with an early police assessment noting it happened during a “sharp right turn.” The incident kept the intersection closed – with West Seattle “low bridge” access blocked – for almost 12 hours.
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