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I-70 Glenwood Canyon Gasoline Spill

 
Site Contact:
Martin McComb
On-Scene Coordinator

(mccomb.martin@epa.gov)

Site Location:
I-70 MM 122.5
Garfield County, CO 81601
 response.epa.gov/I70GlenwoodCanyonGasolineSpill

The morning of January 17, 2023, the EPA Duty officer received a notification from the Garfield County Emergency Manager that approximately 3000 gallons of gasoline were discharged into the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon from a tanker truck involved in a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 70. The spill site was at mile marker 122.5, east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The westbound lanes of the interstate were closed.

The Colorado State Patrol responded as the Designated Emergency Response Authority (DERA). The Garfield County Emergency Manager notified downstream water users as a precaution. The Glenwood Fire Department deployed precautionary boom in the river and a constructed temporary earthen dam beneath the elevated interstate and a hazmat cleanup company responded to the spill site.

EPA mobilized an On-Scene Coordinator to monitor Site conditions and provide assistance, if needed. The Colorado River had considerable flow on January 17, 2023, due to snowmelt. Very little sheen was witnessed at the location of the accident. No sheen was observed for approximately 20 miles downstream. The accident was cleared and the interstate was reopened.

 

 

 

 


Glenwood Fire Department placed absorbent boom in the Colorado River a few hundred feet downstream of the accident location. Glenwood Fire Department placed absorbent boom in the Colorado River a few hundred feet downstream of the accident location. Upper section of slope beneath I70 where the fuel left the roadway and discharged to the Colorado River. Colorado River atthe accident location. Upon arrival, EPA’s OSC identified little sheen nor product in the river. Colorado River just downstream of the accident location. Upon arrival, EPA’s OSC identified little sheen nor product in the river. Colorado River just downstream of the accident location. Upon arrival, EPA’s OSC identified little sheen nor product in the river. Upper section of slope beneath I70 where the fuel left the roadway and discharged to the Colorado River. Upper section of slope beneath I70 where the fuel left the roadway and discharged to the Colorado River. Multiple Colorado State Patrol HazMat Teams responded to the accident.