FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 2, 2005 05-103 Bellingham firm fined for oil spill BELLEVUE - McEvoy Oil Co. of Bellingham must pay a $12,000 fine for spilling gasoline and diesel fuel along State Route 9 in Whatcom County in October 2003. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) cited the company for spilling nearly 3,000 gallons of fuel after a McEvoy tank truck and trailer veered off the northbound lane about 13 miles north of Sedro-Woolley. The trailer tipped on its side when its right wheels left the pavement and sank into the gravel shoulder, wearing holes in the side that allowed the fuel to leak out. The fuel flowed into a wetland east of the highway that drains to the Samish River. The company hired an environmental contractor that spent two days removing fuel from the wetland and contaminated soil from a roadside ditch. The fuel did not reach the river. "The company cooperated fully in the cleanup, but this was a large spill that affected a sensitive wetland and posed a risk to public health and safety," said Paul O'Brien, who manages Ecology's spill-response team in Bellevue. "State law holds McEvoy Oil responsible for spilling oil into the environment." Ecology also cited the company for failing to immediately notify the state Division of Emergency Management (DEM), as required by law. McEvoy Oil Co. may appeal the penalty to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board or to Ecology within 30 days. # # # Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7009; pager, 206-663-1785 Ecology's Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov Broadcast version The Department of Ecology has fined McEvoy Oil Company of Bellingham for a fuel spill from one of company's trucks. The nearly three-thousand-gallon spill happened in October 2003 on state-highway nine, about thirteen miles north of Sedro-Woolley, when the tank truck and trailer veered onto the shoulder. The trailer tipped over, and gasoline and diesel fuel flowed into soil and a wetland near the highway. Cleanup took two days. ____________________________________________________________________________ Office of Communication and Education Ecology's Home Page: http://www.ecy.wa.gov To unsubscribe to Econews, point your browser to http://listserv.wa.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=econews&A=1 , or send a "SIGNOFF ECONEWS" command to [log in to unmask]