RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is reviewing an updated volume estimate submitted today by Colonial Pipeline Company under the terms of the 2022 Consent Order. According to the document submitted today, Colonial estimates a volume of two million gallons of fuel released in the Oehler Nature Preserve near Huntersville, making it the largest onshore fuel spill in the nation.
The release was discovered in August of 2020. Earlier this month, the Mecklenburg County Superior Court approved a Consent Order which requires the company to provide an updated estimate of the volume of gasoline released within 30 days. The Consent Order also requires the company to take specific remedial actions and pay nearly $5 million in penalties and investigative costs.
As of July 13, Colonial reports nearly 1.4 million gallons of free product and about 9.9 million gallons of petroleum-contact water have been recovered.
For more information, go to: https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/waste-management/underground-storage-tanks-section/colonial-pipeline-spill.
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