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Authorities: Company Will Pay For Gasoline Spill Clean Up

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

Updated: 11/24/2007 02:50 pm

TAMPA - As the clean up of more than 8,800 gallons of gasoline from a Friday spill near the Port of Tampa continues, Tampa Fire Rescue knows who's footing the bill.

Bill Wade, Tampa Fire Rescue captain, said Florida Rock and Tank Lines will pay for the cost of the cleanup, which is expected to take several days. Company officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.

At 12:30 p.m. Friday, one of the company's tanker trucks overturned at Maritime Boulevard and 20th Street. The driver, Oliver Pina, 35, of Lakeland, was taken to Tampa General Hospital with minor injuries.

Environmental workers used floating barricades to contain the gasoline, most of which had spilled into a retention pond nearby. None of the gasoline made it into Tampa Bay, and the road was reopened Friday night.

On Saturday morning, the portion of Maritime at the intersection with 20th Street remained barricaded to traffic and the smell of gasoline remained pungent.

Crews from SWS First Response, a private hazardous material cleanup company based in Panama City, were on site to siphon the fuel into a nearby tanker.

Their presence didn't seem to bother a couple dozen sea gulls flying above that occasionally touched down onto the water.

The contaminated soil surrounding the pond will be excavated over the next few days, but Wade said it will take several days to fully assess the damage and the cost of the cleanup.

Fewer than 1,000 gallons of fuel were recovered from the damaged tanker Friday night, Wade said. Crews worked into the late evening to clear the remaining 7,800 gallons of gas that poured onto the road and into the pond.

Traffic was diverted from the intersection for nearly 12 hours Friday while crews worked to siphon gasoline from the retention pond, Wade said. The damaged truck was righted and removed from the scene about 6 p.m., he said.

No evacuation was ordered, but officials are reserving the right to call for one, Wade said. If so, it will only go as far as Hemlock Street, about a block away.

A worst-case scenario would be for the fuel to ignite, Wade said. That's why firefighters sprayed foam onto the fuel. The soaplike bubbles help inhibit fuel vapors.

Another tanker was brought to the site and fuel that remained in the damaged vehicle was siphoned into the empty tanker, Wade said.

The spill should not affect the drinking water or sewer systems, Wade said, because most of the gasoline leaked into a storm drain that led to the retention pond on the east side of the road, near where the tanker overturned.

Wade said police told him the driver would be ticketed for driving "too fast for conditions." Witnesses saw the driver driving up Maritime and making a left onto 20th Street when the tanker overturned.

A private cleanup contractor used floating booms to keep the gasoline, which floats on water, from spreading, Wade said. The contractor skimmed the fuel off using a siphoning pump.

Wade said contaminated soil will be excavated today. Removing the soil will take several days, he said.

"Right now, the major concern is environmental," he said.

It will take a few days for officials with the Department of Environmental Protection to assess the damage, Wade said.

Tribune reporters Ray Reyes and John Ceballos contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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