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Highlands Today

Engineer: 120 gallons of diesel fuel spilled

Highlands Today file photo

Highlands County Landfill Operations Director Dick Gorman touches a blue fuel tank from which diesel spilled.

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: October 23, 2009

SEBRING - One hundred and twenty gallons of diesel spilled at the landfill, concluded an engineering firm hired by Highlands County to investigate the fuel spill. That information is being reported to the state.

On Oct. 21, PBS&J issued a letter to Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The fuel spill, reported on Sept. 17, was originally thought to be 100 to 300 gallons, said the letter by P. Gregg Mudd, a senior geologist.

The incident occurred when an employee filling a 277-gallon tank left the vicinity. During the next hour, diesel overflowed from the tank into a second tank designed to catch a spill.

However, the employee tried to conceal his mistake by drilling two holes into the overflow tank, said Ken Wheeler, Highlands County director of sanitation. The fuel leaked into the ground.

About 290 tons of soil under the site - about 195 cubic yards - was removed from the site and placed on top of the landfill, Wheeler said.

"Based on removing 190 tons of contaminated soil," the report said, "approximately 120 gallons of oil was removed. This is equal to the estimated volume of the spill."

Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at 863-386-5828 or gpinnell@highlandstoday.com

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