Another leak reported at Floreffe tank farm
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For the second time in a month, a leak has occurred at the Marathon Petroleum Co.'s Floreffe tank farm in Jefferson Hills, prompting the state Department of Environmental Protection to begin a review of operations there.
Monday's leak of 4,055 gallons of an oil-based asphalt emulsion was contained in an on-site drainage channel and prevented from entering the Monongahela River by sediment in the channel, according to the DEP.
The company deployed a series of booms on Lobbs Run, which runs along the tank property and enters the Mon about 24.5 miles upriver from Pittsburgh, but no asphalt product entered the creek, according to Robert Calmus, a Marathon spokesman.
On Feb. 22, 660 gallons of a hydrochloric acid solution leaked from a 6,000 gallon storage tank in the Marathon tank farm and into the ground under a secondary containment area.
None of the spilled material flowed into the Monongahela River from that leak either and no one was injured, but Katherine Gresh, a DEP spokeswoman, said the two incidents happening in such a short period of time have raised concerns.
"We're treating this as something that needs further evaluation," Ms. Gresh said. "We'll do a walk-through of the plant and operation in the near future. Once we determine the cause, we'll decide if an enforcement action is appropriate."
Mr. Calmus said Marathon is also conducting its own investigation. He said Monday's leak from a valve on a 58,800-gallon mixing tank was discovered by Marathon employes around 5 a.m., and employees immediately began transferring the asphalt mixture into other holding tanks. By 8 a.m. the first of three vacuum trucks had begun collecting the material from the ground and the drainage channel.
The spilled material, a combination of asphalt, oil, water and a small amount of hydrochloric acid, looks like black tar and is used as a kind of glue in pothole repairs to make the asphalt stick to the bottom of the hole.
The Marathon facility was formerly owned by Ashland Oil and under that prior owner was the site of one of the biggest inland water pollution disasters in history. In January 1988, a tank holding 3.5 million gallons of diesel oil collapsed, spilling 700,000 gallons into the Monongahela River. Ashland was fined $2.25 million.
First Published March 23, 2010 12:00 am
