Snow removal equipment strikes pipe, causes spill in village

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – A heavy equipment operator plowing snow in a Yukon River village struck a fuel pipe that spilled diesel.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports an estimated 3,000 gallons (11,356 liters) of diesel hit the ground in the village of Beaver. The spill is about the volume of 10 pickup truck bed tanks.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the village drinking water well and the Yukon River are about 600 feet (183 meters) from the spill area.

The spill was discovered Tuesday at the Beaver Cruikshank School tank farm, a fuel oil storage facility.

The Yukon Flats School District is listed as the party responsible for the spill.

State environmental staff made plans to travel to the site Friday.

Beaver is 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Fairbanks.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com