(The following story by Dan Sokil appeared on the website on The Reporter November 5, 2009.)
LANSDALE, Pa. — The circumstances around a diesel fuel spill by railway giant CSX last month, and Lansdale Borough’s detailed and comprehensive response to the spill, became much clearer Wednesday night.
Fairmount Fire Company Chief Jay Daveler reported to borough council that borough responders were on the scene almost immediately and have worked hard to make sure the spill did not spread.
“I was contacted by the Montgomery County dispatcher that Sunday, Oct. 25, at 3:48 p.m., and was informed that there was an oil slick at the creek near Third Street, and upon my arrival saw a heavy fuel oil slick there on the creek, and knew it was not a small spill,” Daveler said.
The fire company was dispatched immediately to block off the spill in three locations surrounding the oil slick, as the state Department of Environmental Protection and county Hazardous Materials teams were contacted, Daveler said.
“We noticed that the creek goes directly into Hatfield Township, so I contacted Chief 17 (of the Hatfield Fire Company) and briefed him,” said Daveler, but apparatus already put in place by Fairmount kept the spill from spreading downstream.
“We then had reports come in from West Broad Street of a heavy odor of fuel and the presence of fuel there, but still didn’t have a source, so I requested a Lansdale Police car go to the Madison Parking Lot to check the storm sewer there, since it’s on a direct path underground from there to the Third Street creek,” Daveler said.
At the lot, police noticed a large amount of fuel oil spilled on the Madison Parking Lot that appeared to be coming from CSX engine No. 8868, on the railroad tracks behind the lot, he said.
“I observed a large puddle of fuel oil spilling into the Madison Parking Lot, there were three points of entry into the parking lot from the rails and the puddle was about 30 feet by 30 feet, and it was proceeding from the area into the gutter towards the borough’s storm sewer,” said Daveler.
Borough police blocked off the spill there, county dispatchers and CSX officials were notified that the engine appeared to be the source, and cleanup began almost immediately after the source was located.
Around 5 p.m. a CSX mechanic arrived on the scene, and Daveler asked if the leak could have been caused by vandalism. Although the cause has yet to be confirmed officially by a CSX investigation, the mechanic told Daveler it was not vandalism but a mechanical failure that caused the spill.
The mechanic told Daveler that a pipe broke and kept pumping fuel out of a tank, and also stated that no additional fuel was leaking, and that an environmental tank beneath the engine had contained about 100 pounds of fuel, Daveler said. About 2,500 gallons of fuel were spilled, of which about 50 made it to the creek.
As of Wednesday night, Daveler told council, nearly 1,500 gallons have been recovered from the site, as had more than 30,000 gallons of water and nearly 1,800 tons of soil.
Borough environmental attorney Steven Miano and consultant Michael Christie of Penn Environmental and Remediation Inc. were also called in to oversee the cleanup efforts. Both told council Wednesday that they’ve been in contact with CSX legal representatives, who have been cooperating fully and informed the borough they will cover the cleanup costs.
Those costs include the removal of soil, concrete and asphalt beneath the affected portion of the parking lot, Daveler said. Testing is continuing on all three surfaces, to make sure no spilled fuel oil remains, and all of the affected soil has been removed from the borough.
“I’d like to thank Jay Daveler, Lee Mangan, and everyone else who responded for working on this. They’ve done a good job, and done everything they can to make sure in 10 or 20 years, nothing will come back to us, and done their best to take care of our residents and make sure there’s no impact on the residents of our borough,” said borough council President Jack Hansen.