Spill Cleanup Continues in Odessa, Texas
Jul. 28–Workers continued Wednesday to clean up a 4,235-gallon diesel spill in east Odessa.
Most of the spill was contained Tuesday, but the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was overseeing the removal of contaminated dirt Wednesday.
“Last night, they scraped all the dirt they thought was impacted,” TCEQ Environmental Investigator Lindsey Buckner said. “They didn’t have time to move it, so they put it in a pile and covered it.
“Today, they’re moving that dirt to a landfill,” he said.
Buckner said all the diesel that left the road spilled into state-owned barrow ditches.
“They were able last night to scrape out all they could — about four or five feet on the east side and about a foot on the west side,” he said.
Buckner also said TCEQ placed a berm to keep rainwater confined to the ditch so it wouldn’t spread the diesel fuel overnight.
“Luckily diesel isn’t volatile, and it doesn’t move much — it’s easily excavated,” he said.
Glen Larum, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer, said the excavated dirt in the ditches would be replaced.
“They’re proceeding, picking up plenty of diesel-impregnated dirt and replacing it with good, West Texas topsoil.”
The heavy cleanup came after a three-vehicle accident Tuesday morning at Mecca Street and East Loop 338, two blocks south Highway 191. The accident closed down the Loop from East Ridge Road to University Boulevard for about eight hours.
According to police reports, Kimberly Urias was driving a blue Chevrolet Cavalier at 9:27 a.m. Tuesday south on East Loop 338. The report said Urias lost control of her car and crossed the median, colliding with the rear driver-side tires of a tanker driven by Richard Jurney of New Mexico.
The Cavalier spun, hitting the tanker again with the back of the car, and then crossing back over the median where it collided with a Ford pickup driven by Herbert Huffty Jr. of Odessa, the report said.
The tanker lost control and rolled over. It came to a rest on its side, blocking both the north and southbound lanes of Loop 338.
The drivers of both the Cavalier and tanker truck were taken to Medical Center Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Ford truck was not injured.
Urias remained in stable condition Wednesday. Jurney was treated and released Tuesday.
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