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DEP Says Gas From Spill Hits Groundwater: Sheetz Drills Wells to Assist Cleanup Efforts

Posted on: Saturday, 1 April 2006, 06:00 CST

By Adam Smeltz, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Apr. 1--COLLEGE TOWNSHIP -- Fuel that leaked last month from a Sheetz gas station has reached the groundwater, the state reported Friday.

But just how much gasoline has seeped into the water remains unclear, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

The Altoona-based Sheetz has been working since March 10 to contain, clean and fully identify the spill at the station at 2000 E. College Ave.

David Dodson, the Sheetz environmental compliance manager, said the company has drilled four wells to determine the location and direction of the groundwater.

He said the company should identify by next week the contaminant levels in the groundwater. It will install additional wells to get a better sense "of the mass and extent of any plume and define the (environmental) issues," Dodson said.

The protracted response is costing Sheetz more than $500,000, he estimated.

"It's a slow process," Dodson said. "But it's just the nature of the process. ... Our focus is our environment and cleaning up our mess."

Sheetz has estimated that 115 or fewer gallons leaked from the station. It blamed an underground line that has been replaced.

Dan Spadoni, a spokesman for the DEP, said the state is monitoring the situation regularly. Spring Creek runs adjacent to the gas station.

Spadoni said the company is floating absorbent materials on the creek surface to catch any fuel that may filter out of the ground and into the waterway. He said he knew of no fish kills there.

The new wells will eventually help to pump out the contaminated material, Spadoni said.

A resident near the site, declining to be named, said she could smell gasoline fumes for more than a week after the leak.

Dodson said the company recently noticed some seepage creeping closer to the creek in a section toward Lemont.

To prevent it from migrating farther, he said, Sheetz will dig a 100-foot trench behind the bank.

It's a technique the company used in the initial cleanup response.

Dodson also said that Sheetz is not aware of any drinking-water wells that sit downstream from the gas station.

"We're just keeping after it," he said.

Adam Smeltz can be reached at 231-4631.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)

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