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Incident center for gasoline spill will be there ‘as long as it takes’

The incident command center at the Eldred Township Fire Hall has been a hub of activity since Friday as representatives from the fire department, government and even the National Guard were on the scene following major flooding from a slow moving storm system that dumped several inches of rain in a short amount of time.

The flooding caused a Sunoco gasoline pipe under Loyalsock Creek in Gamble Township to rupture, spilling approximately 55,000 gallons of fuel into the creek.

According to Sunoco Logistics communications manager Jeff Shields, the pipeline was shut off at the source as soon as the break was discovered.

“It may not be that much (gas), but that is what we have to assume,” Shields said.

Workers still are unable to access the area of the spill Saturday due to high water.

The pipeline release site is at Wallis Run near the intersection of Wallis Run Road and Butternut Grove Road in Gamble Township, Lycoming County. Wallis Run is a tributary of the Loyalsock Creek, which feeds into the West Branch of the Susquehanna, Shields said, and the command center at Eldred Township Fire Hall was set up by noon.

The release was confirmed at approximately 3 a.m. Friday, when the Sunoco Logistics Pipeline Control Center detected a drop in pressure on the 8-inch pipeline, which transports refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and home heating fuel between Sinking Spring and markets in Rochester and Buffalo, New York.

“What we know is that something catastrophic happened to the pipeline that ran under the creek next to Wallis Run,” Shields said. “The bridge that ran over that creek is now in the middle of Loyalsock Creek,” he added.

Water monitoring and testing of Loyalsock Creek and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River were being conducted under supervision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection but so far, Shields said, they haven’t “found significant traces” of any petroleum related compounds.

“The results will be shared with water utilities to ascertain the safety of water supplies downstream from the release, including intakes from Shamokin Dam Borough, Sunbury Municipal Authority and Pennsylvania American Water-Milton,” Shields said.

“We will continue to test to make sure no water supplies have been affected,” Shields added.

Inspection of the pipeline will take place when waters recede to safe levels.

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