VERSAILLES – Emergency and response crews have been busy this week cleaning up a fuel leak at the Marathon station at the intersection of U.S. 50 and U.S. 421 in Versailles.
Firefighters were paged out to the area of U.S. 50 and John Paul Street after receiving a complaint of a strong smell of fuel Sunday, according to the Versailles Republican.
Crews traced the spill to the gas station and have worked this week with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Ripley County EMA and the Department of Natural Resources to contain and clean up the spill.
While residents passing by may smell fuel in the area, Versailles Fire Chief Ben Sieverding said that the fuel spill is not a threat to public safety.
“Safety-wise at this point no, no, it’s more of an environmental issue for now,” Sieverding said.
Officials are working to contain the fuel from getting into the water with a lake and creeks nearby.
Patrick Rose, director of Ripley County EMA says, “At this time, we have no reports or verification that [fuel] has went into a water source.”
“Indiana Department of Environmental Management Response have on-site coordinators. They have been outstanding as far as getting this handled. Their still there, they’ve been there all four days,” Rose added.
Local and state agencies are working with business owners as clean-up efforts continue Thursday without an estimated completion time.
WRBI will bring you the latest coverage in this developing story both on-air and online.
