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Fuel spill contained

Coralville pipe break releases 30,000 gallons of diesel fluid By Nathan Hill Gazette staff writer February 27, 2000 CORALVILLE -- A broken pipe at Williams Pipeline Co. early Saturday spilled 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel onto the ground. An unknown amount of the fuel seeped into a nearby creek.

The facility, at Interstate 80 and First Avenue (Exit 242), is a Midwest distribution center for refined petroleum products, including diesel fuel, fuel oil and jet fuel.

Tim Powers, Williams supervisor of operations, said the fuel began flowing onto the ground when a three-inch flange connecting two pipes broke during the night.

Coralville and Iowa City fire departments and the Johnson County HAZMAT Team were called to the scene at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Some of the leaked petroleum reached a small creek that runs under the Williams property, Powers said. The creek emerges at the company's fenceline and runs south about three-quarters of a mile into Clear Creek, which drains into the Iowa River near the Coralville bike trail, just south of Taco Bell. Cleanup crews constructed makeshift dams along the smaller creek, which is about 2 to 5 feet wide.

A.L. Goldberg, Department of Natural Resources field office supervisor, said the spilled fuel did not contaminate Clear Creek.

Workers used vacuum hoses to skim the green petroleum product from the top of the water or soaked it up with absorbant pads.

Powers said he did not know how much diesel fuel trickled into the small creek.

"We're working with the DNR to formulate a plan to clean up the creek," he said. "We have the appropriate equipment and personnel and the appropriate training to deal with this."

Goldberg said the cleanup will take a week.

Crews will have to make sure soil near the creek isn't contaminated by fuel residue. "That's a long-term job, by hand, with shovels," he said. The area could be excavated or Williams personnel could flush the stream bed with clean water and collect it downstream. The small creek runs from the Williams property south, under Fifth Street and alongside the properties of Erin Arms and Le Chateau apartments on Fourth Avenue before reaching Clear Creek, near Second Street.

Powers said he was notified of the spill around 8 a.m. Williams contacted the DNR's hazardous spill department around 8:15 a.m., said Dave Perry, environmental specialist in the DNR's Emergency Response Unit.

"I'm sure Williams will stay on top of this thing until it's cleaned up," he said. "They train for these things and know how to respond to them."

Goldberg said the spill posed little threat to wildlife. The small stream doesn't support any fish, he said.

The incident was much larger than most fuel spills, Perry said. Most petroleum spills in Iowa are transportation-related. When a tanker truck spills its cargo, it usually involves up to 200 gallons, he said.

Powers said this is the first such spill at the facility.

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 27, 2000