Officials give update on Chester County oil spill
CHESTER COUNTY, Tenn. — According to a news release from Pipeline Safety Trust, on June 29, an Energy Transfer partner’s pipeline ruptured when a secondary partner damaged the transmission pipeline carrying crude oil.
Chester County EMA Director Johny Farris says emergency response crews were on scene soon after it happened. The spill was secured the next day.
“What happened is the pipeline was hit by the mower, and of course, it started leaking oil and breached it and the oil started flowing, which would be east from here, would be out of the woods into what is called Horse Creek, which runs north and south,” Farris said.
According to the release, 4,800 barrels spilled, which is equivalent to more than 200,000 gallons. They say this pipeline incident is the second largest crude oil spill recorded in the history of Tennessee.
“There’s been 3,742 barrels cleaned up, plus probably there’s several in the 80,000 gallons of water and the oil mixed that will have to be separated. And oil will come out of that. So there was a lot of oil spilled,” Farris said.
Farris says because of how quickly crews were able to get the leak under control, residents in the area should not worry about facing any health issues related to the spill.
“They’ve been monitoring air quality to make sure everything was okay. They’ve monitored the water quality. They’re making sure there’s nothing affecting any public health issues. And so far, there’s been no public health concerns at all. No one had to be evacuated. Everybody stayed home, and so there’s not no real issues as far as the public needs to be concerned about,” Farris said.
Farris also wanted to point out that no trees or agriculture was affected and there will be no need to cut them down.
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