FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A storage tank damaged by recent flooding has dumped 7,500 gallons of crude oil into the Poudre River near Windsor, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) reported late Friday afternoon.
“At this time we know of no drinking water intakes affected by this spill. The release is not ongoing,” COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman said
The oil has stained vegetation as far as a quarter of mile away from the damaged tank, Hartman said.
The tank’s operator, Noble Energy, discovered the spill Tuesday afternoon and later reported it to the COGCC, the state’s regulatory agency for the oil and gas industry. Recent high river flows undercut the bank where the storage tank was sitting, causing the tank to drop and breaking a valve. About 178 barrels of oil dumped into the river.
The well near the tank has been shut in, and a second tank in the area appears to be unaffected, Hartman said in a news release.
COGCC and water quality experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment were at the scene of the tank spill, where clean-up efforts were underway Friday. Clean-up crews are working to absorb the spilled oil and a vac-truck is removing oil-filled standing water from a low-lying area around the tank.
The site of the spill is southeast of Fort Collins near the Poudre River Trail.
Contributing: Associated Press
7,500 gallons of oil spills in Colorado river
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