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+ Feedback | EPA orders clean up of Loveland Pass fuel spill
Denver -- Today, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ordered CSH Trucking of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., to cleanup more than 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a company tanker truck that overturned on Loveland Pass last Friday.
The spill occurred on U.S. Forest Service land approximately ¼ mile from the North Fork of the Snake River on the west side of the pass. The spilled fuel spread as far as the area adjacent to US Highway 6 near the Arapahoe Basin ski area parking lot.
Under the order, the company will build catchment ponds to intercept any fuel oil that spreads down the slope and will clean up diesel-contaminated soils. The order also requires the trucking company to drill four ground-water monitoring wells to determine if the spilled fuel seeped into ground water. EPA will oversee the cleanup and ground-water monitoring in consultation with the U.S. Forest Service.
No streams or drinking water supplies are impacted at the present time. The cleanup will prevent the spread of the fuel and minimize impacts to sensitive environments such as streams and wetlands. The ground-water monitoring will insure that there are no future impacts to underground water sources in the area.
Immediately following the spill, the company recovered approximately 2,000 gallons from the overturned tanker truck and used absorbent materials to catch and soak up some of the spilled diesel fuel. However, on Saturday the ground thawed enough to allow the fuel to spread to the area near the Arapahoe Basin parking lot. This necessitated the additional cleanup response required in EPA’s order.
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