Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120071
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The fuel may have come from a big pileup on Interstate 81 during Friday's ice storm. That accident, involving two tractor-trailers, a camper and a pickup truck, occurred less than a mile uphill, atop the culvert between the north and southbound lanes.
"We don't know for sure that's the source, but we suspect it," said Elliston Fire Chief Malvin Wells. The state trooper who investigated the wreck was off duty Wednesday, so there was no way of checking to see how much diesel fuel the tractor-trailers were carrying. Wells said he didn't believe any fuel had reached the Roanoke River.
Den Hill Road residents called the Elliston department Tuesday after seeing and smelling diesel fuel in a feeder stream to Den Creek, Wells said. Some residents reported first smelling an odor of oil on Saturday.
The feeder stream passes under the interstate and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks and by land owned by the Izaak Walton League, a water conservation group.
Firefighters placed absorbent booms and pads in the creek to collect and soak up the diesel. "We went back this morning and added some more to dam and dike the water," Wells said Wednesday. "It's working very well right now."
The Fire Department has notified the state Department of Emergency Services, which is responsible for dispatching an environmental cleanup crew to pick up the pads and booms. Wells didn't know how soon the cleanup crew would be on the job.
The booms are located approximately three miles upstream from where Den Creek flows into the North Fork of the Roanoke River. The spill site is nearby the proposed interchange of I-81 with the six-mile "smart" road from Blacksburg.
by CNB