MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. -- Workers at Marine Corps Air Station New River have recovered 6,400 gallons of fuel that leaked from a pipeline, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The Marines said that a Coast Guard unit from Wilmington helped clean up by providing an additional 500 feet of oil-absorbing boom to the air station. It was expected to take several days for workers at New River to clean up the estimated 8,000 to 10,000-gallon fuel spill.
Corps spokeswoman 1st Lt. Kristin Dalton said the leak was discovered Tuesday in a pipeline that transferred fuel from a storage area to refueling tanks. She says the fuel was cut off and gates in a nearby ditch were closed to contain the spill.
Environmental management officials have said the spill will have no effect on local drinking water because there are no drinking water wells near there.
The fuel is used by the installation’s helicopters, which include CH-53 Sea Stallion transports, AH-I Super Cobra attack helicopters and UH-1N Huey transports.
The 3,600-acre New River installation is four miles south of Jacksonville near the southeastern North Carolina coast. With 15,750 active duty military, family members, contractors and civilian employees, as well 212 aircraft, it is one of the service’s largest aviation centers on the East Coast.
Source: http://www.thesunnews.com
