Return time unclear for evacuees
5 homes still evacuated after gasoline spill
Authorities have yet to set a date when the residents of five houses evacuated after a fuel spill last month on Montana 35 near Flathead Lake can return home.
Projections on when residents will be able to move back have ranged from just a few months to several years or even decades.
"I think they're still in the discovery phase as to what's going to happen," said Stephen Stanley, Lake County Office of Emergency Services coordinator. "I don't think that anyone has the answers yet."
The homes, three of which were occupied year-round and two of which were seasonal residences, were evacuated in early April after gasoline vapors were discovered in their crawl spaces.
Since the April 2 spill, engineers have installed a vapor extraction system in at least one of the residences. By creating an area of lower pressure under the home's foundation, engineers hope to keep fuel vapors from leaking into the building.
Monitoring wells will be dug and new water filtration systems will be installed to track and remove the estimated 5,000 gallons of fuel still in the ground.
More than 6,300 gallons of gasoline spilled April 2 when a tractor-trailer owned by Keller Transport of Billings overturned near Finley Point on Montana 35. The northbound truck was pulling tandem tankers when its rear-most trailer drifted off the right side of the road, flipping it.
Gasoline quickly soaked into the dirt, prompting crews to remove more than 1,400 tons of soil contaminated with 1,000 gallons of gasoline.
To prevent the remaining gasoline and gasoline fumes from leaking into Flathead Lake, a Seattle engineering firm is drawing up plans for an interceptor trench to be built somewhere along the shoreline, Stanley said.
No fuel had been found in Flathead Lake, he added.
Vapors, however, have been found in two springs about 500 feet northwest of the spill site, forcing crews to collect the spring water in cisterns equipped with charcoal filters before allowing it to flow into the lake. The springs discharge 100,000 gallons of water a day into the lake.
In the wake of the crash, Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch ordered staffers to begin considering options to limit truck traffic on Montana 35. Last week he announced his intent to seek public comment on the issue.
On April 28, a tractor-trailer carrying flowers and greenhouse supplies ran off Montana 35 and overturned less than five miles north of the gas spill.
But trucking industry representatives have said they would resist any state effort to limit access to the highway. Even though Montana 35 has a lower speed limit than U.S. 93, truckers sometimes prefer that route between the Flathead Valley and Missoula because Montana 35 is flatter and quicker and burns less fuel.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com