News Release 540

DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO GASOLINE LEAK AT
PUTNAM COUNTY SERVICE STATION

Volume 35-540

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 19, 2007 – Emergency responders from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources were called Sunday to investigate the release of an estimated 480 gallons of gasoline from a Unionville service station.

The department’s Environmental Emergency Response section was contacted Sunday morning by Putnam County Emergency Management Director Dave Garrison, who reported a gasoline leak from McCormack’s MFA Service, 28637 Highway 136, Unionville. The release was discovered after gasoline was found in the road ditch on both sides of Highway 136. The Unionville Fire Department built berms in the area to contain the fuel.

The department ordered the service station owner to shut down the station’s aboveground gasoline storage tank until the cause of the leak was determined and to make arrangements to remove the gasoline from the ditch. Environmental Emergency Response section staff from the department’s Northeast Regional Office in Macon also responded to oversee the cleanup.

An environmental cleanup firm has been hired, and the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which oversees weights and measures issues – including service station pumps – has also been notified. Excavation at the site to determine the source of the leak is expected today. Additional excavation is likely to remove soil contaminated by the gasoline.

The Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Emergency Response section is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department’s
24-hour spill line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact spill line at
573-634-2436. For more information contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at
800-361-4827 or 573-751-3443, or visit the department's Web page at www.dnr.mo.gov.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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