Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405040124
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Short
State emergency and environmental quality workers were at the airport all day trying to determine the extent of the spill, Larry Hincker, a Tech spokesman, said.
A technician discovered the leak at about 7:45 a.m., Hincker said. Two storage tanks, one containing jet fuel and the other aviation gas, had been filled Monday. The aviation gas tank had the larger leak - about a gallon a minute - Hincker said.
"We don't know how much gasoline did leak," Hincker said.
Hincker said there appears to be no danger to water systems. There are no storm drains, underground rivers or potable water supplies nearby. Homes in the area are uphill from the spill, so any ground movement would be toward the airport, he said.
Emergency workers stopped the leak at about 10 a.m. A tanker from Abingdon was being used to pump the fuel out of the tanks to see how much of the fuel had actually spilled.
Members of the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Emergency Services were at the airport to help Tech officials determine the extent of ground saturation. Core samples of the ground are being taken to determine where the fuel has leaked.
by CNB