Dover firefighters spent about four hours containing a crude oil leak into Brandywine Creek in Dover Township Saturday afternoon. The leaking tank sits along State Route 39 and Pyle Road, near the Norma Johnson Center – which was not affected.
Dover Fire Lieutenant Shane Wells says firefighters were notified around 2:40 p.m. as a farmer on an ATV spotted the oil leaching into the creek from a tank battery about 50 feet away.
Wells says crews deployed absorbent booms in multiple locations to stop the spread while Ohio DNR and the EPA monitored the scene. He says there was no sign of a fish kill, and the well operator—identified as OWS Acquisitions—began pumping out the tank and removing contaminated soil.
Wells was unsure how long the tank had been leaking and how much oil reached the creek, and the company owner said the 4,000-gallon tank was full a few days earlier – it was about half full when found on Saturday. Wells believes most of that went into the ground and an unknown amount leached into the creek.
The leak may have been caused by corrosion on the bottom of the tank. Soil cleanup was expected to continue.
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