Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007040325
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: By NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The regional hazardous-material team in Giles County contained some of the fuel by stringing an absorbant boom across the river Tuesday afternoon.
More than 30 fire and rescue workers worked into the night to soak up fuel that had collected near the mile-long banks of Gentry's Landing Campsite.
The spill was expected to be cleaned by this morning.
"The odor is terrible. I'm sure we're going to have a strong odor here for weeks," said W.O. Gentry, manager of the campsite. "It's a dang mess."
Gentry said some of his 45 campers started complaining to him Monday about the smell of gas, that their boats were getting dirty and that they weren't catching any fish. He notified the Giles County Sheriff's Department and the state Water Control Board in Roanoke.
He said things got worse Tuesday. "People can't swim in it," Gentry said.
And he's worried that the smell will bother campers who are scheduled to arrive this weekend.
Glen Lyn Fire Chief Doug Farewell said the boom installed by the hazardous-material team seemed to have contained most of the spill.
And he said his firefighters and county rescue workers would continue soaking up the fuel with special absorbent sponges.
The fuel came from a tanker truck that had been driving west early Monday through a narrow section of U.S. 460 called "The Bluffs" when a car cut into its path, Farewell said.
The truck driver swerved to avoid the car but hit an outcropping that ripped open the tank, he said.
Fuel gushed from the tanker and onto the side of the highway. The driver continued driving and stopped at a wayside area where the rest of the fuel emptied out.
Farewell said the tanker was fully loaded and had been carrying about 8,500 gallons of fuel. He estimated that all but 2,000 gallons spilled.
The spilled fuel was blocked from entering a drainage ditch, but it must have seeped into underground streams and made its way to the New River about a mile away, Farewell said.
He said he did not know how much of the fuel actually reached the river.
Gentry said: "There's not much of it, but it doesn't take too much to make a mess."
by CNB