Whitefish wants answers about fuel leak

Gasoline oozing into river near Town Pump

After sniffing bottles of gasoline-laced effluent from the Whitefish River, the Whitefish City Council on Monday vowed to renew efforts to get answers about a fuel seep into the river near the Town Pump.

Whitefish Lake Institute Director Mike Koopal passed around water samples taken from the seep on the south side of the river and told the council that benzene levels in the samples were 39 times the level allowed for drinking water.

"I've talked to three people with DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality] and I'm frustrated with their timeline to mitigate this," Koopal said. "A letter [from the council] might be in order."

The council directed city staff to write a letter to the director of the state agency and forward a copy to Gov. Brian Schweitzer. It also will ask the county hazardous materials team for input.

Council member Velvet Phillips-Sullivan noted that she brought the fuel seep to the council's attention two years ago. She expressed frustration, too, at the lack of action by the state agency.

Environmental specialist Marcile Sigler with DEQ's Kalispell field office confirmed that gasoline is leaking into the river, but said the source of the leak and the amount of pollution have not yet been determined.

Olympus Technical Services of Great Falls, a consulting firm hired by Town Pump, was drilling for soil samples at the site on Tuesday.

"We don't know that Town Pump is the source," Sigler said.

Soil samples were taken two years ago when the leak was first reported to the state. Although contaminated soil was found, results were inconclusive because the "equipment couldn't go as deep as we needed," Sigler said.

She said she doubts the leaking fuel poses any danger for those recreating on the river, but council members wondered if warning signs should be posted at the site.

"Gas volatizes quickly on surface water," she said. "I don't know it would be environmentally hazardous to human health."

Absorbent booms have been periodically placed around the leak.

Brian Bushnell, who canoes frequently on the Whitefish River, said the fuel spill has been ongoing for the past couple of years.

"It is coming out of the ground at river level, meaning underwater at high water flows," Bushnell said. "The fumes are strong enough to have burned our throats and lungs, leaving a foul taste in our mouths for quite some time.

"It is obscene," he continued. "Almost as insulting are the containment booms put in place…they are just tube socks filled with sand or something, doing no good at all. I've seen at least one of those downstream after spring runoff.

"Something is very wrong here, and no one is doing anything about it," Bushnell said.

Environment enforcement specialist Dan Kenney with DEQ's enforcement division said the case was referred to the agency's petroleum-release section after the leak was initially reported in July 2005. Petroleum-release officials then worked with Town Pump to determine if the leak was from one of its tanks.

"We have to work through the process of elimination," Kenney said.

Any number of scenarios are possible, he said. Fines for leaking tanks are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com