uel gushed at a rate of more than 100 gallons of gas a minute as it sat on its side". Though emergency crews were able to contain 700-800 gallons of the gasoline at the site, the rest of it quickly made its way to the storm drains, and then to the Mississippi River just north of the 10th Avenue bridge.According to TwinCities.com, the Minneapolis fire department is reportedly monitoring the air at the river near the the construction of the new 35-W bridge to make sure it is at safe levels, and there are reports of dead fish.
A series of containment booms have been placed in the water to collect the gasoline as it empties into the river and direct it to the banks. Since gasoline floats on top of water, it will most likely be vacuumed off the top. The vacuum trucks can't get right up to the actual sewer outfall because of the construction. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are also being flushed through the sewers to move the gasoline out. Hopefully their efforts at removing it will be quick and effective and damage to the river's water quality and aquatic life will be kept to a minimum!
Photo: Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune
1 comment:
There are also cases of oil spill in some other countries, and it has become a very serious global problem. With today's economic and ecological crises, we need to be careful in preserving our natural resources to prevent economic and environmental problems in the future.
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