That image was taken a short time ago from the SDOT camera on the east side of the Spokane/Chelan/West Marginal/Delridge intersection, the area blocked off for almost 12 hours after a double-tanker truck went sideways and spilled gasoline. The cleanup continues, and that’s led to the lane closure shown on the camera – so you’re advised to keep avoiding the westbound routes through that intersection. Meantime, we have information from Seattle Public Utilities regarding pollution concerns and what the crew’s doing there; we contacted SPU spokesperson Andy Ryan to ask about it. He provided these details:
The truck leaked an estimated 2,800 to 3,200 gallons of gasoline into the City’s storm drain system, which empties into the Duwamish River. At this point, the fuel has not made it into the river—although we anticipate that some fuel is likely to enter the river.
The transportation company responsible for the spill is paying for contractors to remove the fuel from the storm drain system, and transfer it to storage tanks. Seattle Public Utilities is overseeing the cleanup.
Seattle Fire has sprayed Novacool fire retardant foam in the area to reduce the chance of fire. SFD got the foam as part of a $247,000 grant from Washington Ecology. Novacool is said to be of lower toxicity than other fire retardants, and it breaks down faster to decrease the risk of oxygen depletion in receiving water.SPU is monitoring safety issues, ensuring there is not an explosive environment in the drainage system, and closing a lane of traffic to facilitate cleanup. Cleanup efforts are expected to take about 36 hours. The cleanup will be performed by vacuum trucks specially designed for the removal of gasoline.
… Because of the potential explosion/fire risk, this material [foam and gas] cannot be boomed and contained at the outfall. There is a large oil/water/separator (OWS) between most of the spill and the outfall that was built and installed specifically for this purpose. As of right now there are several inches of fuel in the OWS and the cleanup contractor (NRC) hired by the trucking company is working on keeping that material pumped down. We are cautiously optimistic that the OWS will prevent most of the material from entering the waterway. This area is tidal, and is beginning to go out so there will be more indication of the level of material bypassing the OWS as the afternoon goes on. At this time, we cannot estimate the volume of material that will be unrecoverable.
The worst-case scenario is fish kills in the area. Gasoline will typically dissipate relatively quickly when exposed to the atmosphere. This would be aided if sunny weather, but unfortunately it does not look like there is sunshine in the forecast. Department of Ecology is taking responsibility for monitoring from the outfall and has a boat from NRC on standby in the event spill material bypasses the OWS.
SPU Spill Response and Safety is onsite to monitor the clean-up activities of NRC and is developing a schedule for SPU to staff the site until the cleanup is complete. As of now, NRC has the appropriate resources onsite to effect clean-up. Early estimates indicate the cleanup process could take 24-36 hours. A debriefing and review of the incident after the clean-up is done will indicate if further action (enforcement) by SPU Source Control & Pollution Prevention is warranted.
As reported in our previous coverage, SPD’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is looking into the cause of the crash, with early indications that the trailer went sideways as the truck made a sharp turn. No injuries were reported.
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