Diesel Spill on December 20, 2008

The following is a review of the incident. Click here for picture.

1. The spill occurred at sometime between the evening of Friday, December 19^th and the morning of Saturday, December 20^th.

2. The truck was travelling West on Route 89.

3. A BJ Services truck was observed by local residents at the school bus house location with the hood up.

4. The leak started at the Smith’s and continued for approximately a quarter of a mile to the bus house across from Allen Ridge.

5. Ed Wade, a local resident, called 911 on the 20^th.

6. Grandview VFD was dispatched at 11:43 .

7. The WVDOH spread cinders on the spill on the 20^th.

8. Hawg Hauling was observed by local residents washing the road between 16:30-18:30 on 20^th. This created a hazard due to the freezing temperatures and also dispersed some of the diesel spill

9. Al Anderson of Ryan Environmental arrived in the early afternoon on the 21^st.

10. Arvilla spent most of the 21^st cleaning up the spill under the supervision of Chesapeake.

11. The removed dirt was impounded at the Mahone Farm owned by Chesapeake in a hay bale and plastic lined enclosure until testing and future disposal can be arranged. Gravel was used to replace the dirt that was removed.

12. The WVDOH sent out a truck and road sweeper at 17:00. It was used to sweep the road to the center for removal of the cinders and diesel oil.

13. And absorbent was spread on the road and the cleanup was completed during the evening of the 21^st.

14. There was a trail of diesel fuel from this location up to and starting up Brock Ridge.

The following picture was taken at 14:55 on the 21^st. It shows the ditch and pull off section of the road being cleaned. You can also see the cinders and fuel on the road by the dump truck.

Letter to Editor of Wetzel Chronicle on December 24, 2008

On behalf of the Wetzel County Action Group I would like to thank all parties that responded to the diesel fuel spill on December 20th. The spill occurred on Route 89 near Allen Ridge. Volunteers from the Grandview Volunteer Fire Department were the initial responders and handled the initial safety and containment concerns. Chesapeake Energy also responded and dispatched Arvilla Oilfield Services to do the cleanup along with dispatching an environmental consultant. The WV DOH also responded to requests for assistance from the fire department and Chesapeake Energy. Wetzel County 911 handled the initial communications and came out to the spill site to see if they could be of further assistance.