Williamsport In a Williamsport facility that used to treat wastewater from natural gas fracking activities, an estimated 16,000 gallons of recoverable oil leaked from a tank.
When two fishermen from the Susquehanna River reeled in their lines on Sunday night, they found what municipal fire chief Sam Aungst called black goop.
Approximately 16,000 gallons were spilled, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s study, and more than half of those escaped the containment area surrounding the tank in the Eureka Resources building.
Aungst claimed he was informed that the hole formed as a result of corrosion within the facility’s 26,000-gallon tank located in the 400 block of Second Street.
“The oil spurted out beyond containment around the tank due to pressure,” he claimed.
According to Aungst, the oil went via a conduit that carried the Grafius Run creek, down a ramp outside the building, into a storm drain, into a pump station, and then into the river a short distance distant.
In order to stop further spread, he claimed, city firefighters arrived around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday and positioned booms in the river close to the outflow.
According to the chief, daytime drone surveys showed an oil slick stretching downstream for several miles into Loyalsock Township.
According to Aungst, the situation is stable and the spill has been controlled. According to him, environmental assessments are still being conducted and conditions are being continuously watched.
The number of gallons that made it to the river is unknown, but according to Aungst, he was told that there is no risk downstream due to a diluting factor.
Under the supervision of the Williamsport Sanitary Authority, Eagle Response Services from Milesburg sealed the oil tank hole to prevent oil flow and cleaned the storm drain and pipelines leading to a pump station that releases water into the river during high tide.
Michael D. Miller, executive director of the Authority, expressed his desire for the cleanup to be completed as soon as feasible before the next rainstorm.
DEP claims to be in charge of the cleanup. Although PA American Water’s Milton facility has been informed as a precaution, there haven’t been any noticeable effects on the drinking water as of yet.
According to property owner Dan Ertel, the oil was to be sold after being recovered during the wastewater treatment process.
According to Miller, the Eureka plant’s discharge permit with the sanitary authority is still valid even though it hasn’t been operating the Second Street site for a while.
In Bradford County, the business also has a site along Route 6 in Standing Stone Township, close to Wysox. A note in the Pennsylvania Bulletin stated that it has submitted an application to renew its DEP discharge permit.
In March, DEP informed Eureka that a violation notice had been sent a month earlier and that it had failed to pay the 2025 annual operating maintenance charge for the Williamsport and Standing Stone facilities.
In the same month, DEP recognized Eureka’s efforts to clean up the Standing Stone site after a spill in April 2024.
Eureka and DEP signed a compliance agreement in January to address infractions at the Bradford County site, which included emptying a particular tank and others used to store leftover trash that were leaking or had leaked since an inspection in February 2023.
All tanks and emergency containment systems that are leaking or have leaked since that inspection must be repaired and tested by Eureka, according to the agreement.
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