Gasoline spill clean-up could take months

SCOTT TRUXELL/for the VW independent

Officials believe they have pinpointed the source of a sizable gas leak at Tyler’s Short Stop on East Main Street in Van Wert.

“A hole in an underground gas line just beyond the pumps appears to be the cause,” Van Wert County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy said.

It was first believed that 500 gallons of gasoline leaked into the city’s storm sewer, with some of it making its way into Town Creek. But McCoy says it’s likely at least 1,000 gallons leaked from the hole, and “had been leaking for some time.”

Saturday’s heavy rain may have pushed the gasoline from the storm sewer into the creek.

Residents of Washington Street and Central Avenue began smelling gas Sunday afternoon, prompting an investigation by city workers, who were able to trace the leak back to Tyler’s Short Stop.

Absorbent booms were placed in Town Creek to successfully contain the gasoline within the city limits.

Clean-up crews from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Cincinnati continue to vacuum gas from the sewer system and the creek.

It was initially believed clean-up efforts could take several days, but “if it’s really saturated into the ground, full clean-up could take months,” McCoy said early this afternoon.

Barricades remain up at several city streets, but McCoy said any danger of an explosion is now over.