Thursday afternoon at approximately 4:30 p.m., employees at Burley’s Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue noticed a large oil slick coming past the restaurant on that portion of the Little Juniata River. The owner of Burley’s called 911, which notified the Fire Department and all appropriate authorities.
According to fire personnel on the scene, the fuel leaked into a storm drain from the parking lot at the Choice gas station at the corner of 10th Street and Logan Avenue. The fuel then ran into a storm drain to make its way to the river.
The Manager of the Choice store said that the leak came from a fuel tank in a vehicle parked in the store parking lot that belonged to either a Choice customer or another individual parked in the lot. The fuel did not come from a fuel tank at the store or from a fuel tanker-truck since there was no gasoline delivery to the Choice store Thursday.
The spill was contained with absorbent at the outflow and swept up at the source by 6 p.m. It is undetermined how many gallons passed down stream and what damage occurred.
Bill Anderson of the Little Juniata River Association released a statement to The Daily Herald to remind the public how vulnerable the river is to any and all leaks or spills in Tyrone.
He said everything that is dumped into a storm drain goes directly into the river. The ecology of the river is extremely vulnerable, especially at this time of year while the Little Juniata is very warm and flows are well below the seasonal average.
