On Saturday, 12 November 2011, 0800 hrs, a spill of an estimated 750 to 1,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline occurred on U.S. Highway 12 near Mile Marker 132 in rural north central Idaho. A tanker truck pulling a 4,000 trailer was west bound on the highway when the accident occurred. The two-compartment trailer was filled with approximately 2,000 gallons of clear diesel and approximately 1,700 gallons of unleaded gasoline.
The driver was not injured nor was the tanker truck damaged; however, the trailer broke away from the truck and went into the north side (upslope) ditch of the highway and collided with the adjoining vertical rock face. The compartment filled with gasoline was damaging causing a slow discharge of gasoline into the roadside ditch. Upon arrival at the incident, the Lewiston Fire Department Regional Response Team (RRT) placed absorbent pads in the ditch to recover free product and deployed absorbent booms in the Lochsa River as a precautionary measure. West Central Environmental Consultants (WCEC) responded to the incident on behalf of the owner/operator of the vehicle City Service Valcon. Upon arrival at the site, WCEC personnel constructed a temporary catchment basin to capture the gasoline as it was released from the trailer. An estimated 750 to 1,000 gallons of gasoline was recovered while the remainder migrated downward through soil in the roadside ditch.
Initial response was provided by Idaho State Police, Idaho Transportation Department, and the RRT. Soon thereafter, WCEC, along with the U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality), and EPA arrived. WCEC is preparing a cleanup action work plan focusing on the excavation of gasoline contaminated soils from the roadside ditch. It is estimated that the plan will be implemented the week of 21 November 2011, but the exact schedule is dependent on favorable weather.
The Lochsa River is immediately adjacent to the site. The Lochsa River is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River and contains federally designated threatened and endangered species such as bull trout and steelhead and other non-listed species such as chinook salmon and Westslope cutthroat trout.
