Oil Spill Reported Saturday
Local authorities responded to a reported oil spill early Saturday morning.
According to the White County Sheriff’s Department incident report, Deputy Sheriff Randy Graves was notified of the spill around 5:30 Saturday morning.
Graves located the spill, which apparently began at 1500 East and 1175 North. The spill, according to the report, looked as if the rear valve of a tank truck had been left open. Following the oil, north on 1500 East, Graves indicated the oil leak continued onto 1650 North, going east. The truck later crossed Illinois Route One and the oil leak stopped at 1600 East at 1950 North. The report noted there did not appear to be any oil in the ditches, but only on the roadway.
White County Engineer Brian Ray was notified of the situation. Ray and Hawthorne Road Commissioner Jeff Kisner responded to the scene, applying sand over the oil on the roadways.
The investigation revealed the tank truck belonged to Wildcat Tank Truck Services out of Olney. It was determined that a four inch nipple had broken while the truck was moving and the driver, James Earl of Maunie, did not notice the leak because it was dark at the time.
The truck was supposed to have approximately 500 gallons of crude oil, but it was not known how much oil leaked from the truck.
