The 10-mile Utah County commute on I-15 that took hours to travel Tuesday involved only slight delays Wednesday while crews continued cleanup work from a 6,000-gallon fuel spill.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers closed off the passing lanes on northbound and southbound I-15 between Lindon and American Fork while crews from a private contracting firm - under the direction of the Utah County sheriff's and fire departments - excavated soil contaminated by the fuel spill. The spill was evidently contained to the highway median, where Evan Sullivan overturned his southbound fuel-carrying diesel truck Tuesday morning.That work actually began Tuesday night when wreckers finally righted the rolled diesel, which was struck by a pickup carrying ice. Workers, though, had to stop their efforts because of darkness and resumed efforts Wednesday morning. Excavation work is expected to continue until week's end.
On Tuesday, crews from the Orem, American Fork and Pleasant Grove fire departments sprayed fire-retardant foam on areas of the soil-covered median to reduce the chances of an explosion or fire. At least half of the diesel's 11,000-gallon load spilled onto the ground from two punctures in the tank.
Dave Johnson, director of the environmental health services division of the Utah County Health Department, and Utah County sher-iff's Lt. Dick Casto, who serves as the county's emergency services coordinator, said the entire cleanup may take days.
Johnson likened the cleanup to that for leaking underground storage tanks.
"The ground is quite porous," Johnson said. "(Cleanup) may involve actually excavating under the freeway if it's bad enough. Severe fuel spills have taken years to clean up."
Once most of the fuel-contaminated soil is removed, crews will monitor soil quality before other procedures, including air-stripping, are employed - if they are necessary.
Though crews originally feared the fuel could spill onto the highway and then run off into nearby farms, the spill was evidently contained to the median.
Some of the fire crews helping soak down the spill area, including those from Pleasant Grove, had problems getting to the accident site because nearly 10 miles of I-15 had been closed to oncoming traffic for six hours by UHP troopers and Orem and American Fork police officers.
The officers diverted vehicles onto either Geneva Road, which runs from Lindon to Provo, or U.S. 89, which runs through the entire county.
Cleanup costs for the spill will reach into the thousands of dollars.