COLUMBUS — Cleanup crews continue working to contain kerosene that spilled into two area streams Tuesday night.
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About 2,500 gallons of kerosene leaked from a tanker railroad car into Whitehall waterways, as reported by our media partner WBNS-TV in Columbus.
The tanker railroad car was in the process of being filled up when the leak happened.
A spokesperson for the city of Whitehall said there was leakage in both the Turkey Run and Mason Run waterways in Whitehall, according to WBNS-TV.
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Columbus Division of Fire Lieutenant Nick Davis said there was a report of an odor or gas around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Fire officials found an active leak on East Fifth Avenue. Hazmat was called in, and they deployed containment booms to absorb and slow the spread of kerosene, as reported on WBNS-TV.
“They stated their cleaning efforts as far as vacuuming out the soil, using hard and soft booms, which is basically absorbent on the top of the surface of the water, which collects all the petroleum-based product and lets the water filter through,” Davis said.
Crews were able to stop the leak, but heavy rain on Wednesday pushed debris downstream and impacted the position of the booms.
The kerosene ended up moving further south downstream, according to WBNS-TV.
Crews responded once the rain stopped and were able to filter the fuel out to ensure it didn’t move any further downstream.
Davis said there’s no risk to the public.
“It would become a risk if we got it into the treatment facility, and then it dispersed into residents’ homes, right? It hasn’t gotten to that point,” Davis said.
The Environmental Protection Agency will continue to monitor the situation, as reported by WBNS-TV.
“They’ll probably do additional follow-up with the board of health, just to do water testing samples, air quality samples, just to ensure that it’s safe, and then ensure that there aren’t any other contaminants in the area,” Davis said.
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