Shane Iverson, KYUK – Bethel
Homes and offices are occupied again in Kuskokwim village of Aniak, two days after a dangerous gasoline spill caused an evacuation near a tank farm.
Crowley Petroleum says the neighborhood surrounding the gasoline leak is safer after clean up crews used specialized foam to dampen the spill’s noxious fumes, and pumps to collect 3,000 gallons of leaked gas mixed with water.
Three households nearest the farm tank are still displaced until more gas is collected. The leak is ongoing and crews need to remove more of the gasoline before they can gain access the source.
Crowley’s Public Information Officer, Jim Butler, says there’s no indication that any of the gasoline has escaped the lined containment area.
The spill is the second in two months for Crowley. The other happened at another storage facility a mile below Aniak in March. Butler says once the clean-up effort is complete Crowley will investigate the incidents to see if there is a connection.
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