On Jan. 30, OSC Smith and START responded at the request of KYDEP to a diesel fuel spill from a Norfolk Southern (NS) RR locomotive near Georgetown, KY. The incident, which was originally reported on Jan. 29, involved the release of 3,500 gallons of product. Approximately 1,600 gallons was discharged into track ballast at a single location, with the remainder spread over 15 miles of track before it was discovered. At the spill site, approximately 1,000 gallons of product was collected within a culvert by the RR contractor. The release is within the recharge area for Royal Spring, which forms the Georgetown water supply. The water utility shut down the intake as a precaution. EPA responded based on KYDEP concerns that the spill threatened the water supply. Current concerns involve the inability to recover the remaining 600 gallons of oil product from the track ballast using conventional means.
