Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Maine Gas Spill Threats Show Signs of Diminishing

By: Duane Craig


Five thousand gallons of gasoline spilled on Maine’s Route 11 in 2011. As of the end of July 2012, the remediation effort has been scaled back, according to this report.

The accident happened when a tanker truck carrying more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline rolled over near Wallagrass and spilled about 5,000 gallons. As of mid-July 2012, 2,300 gallons of gasoline had been removed and because of diminishing returns from the southern vapor extraction system, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection shut it down July 12. The northern extraction system had previously been turned off, but weather conditions prompted the department to turn it back on.

The DEP is leaving monitoring wells in place for at least another year. One local well owner had elevated levels of contaminants associated with gasoline and the well has been fitted with a carbon filtration system. Still, the DEP may require new drinking water wells to be drilled.
There’s more information from the DEP about this accident here.

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