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Gas leaks into Crum Creek tributary near Ridley High School
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Little Crum Creek near Ridley High School
An leak in an underground gas station tank near Ridley High School last week caused 350 gallons of gasoline to contaminate a tributary of nearby Crum Creek , the DEP announced Friday. Attempts to clean up the gas are ongoing.
Because the station is located across the road from the High School and among residential streets, "protecting public health was DEP’s utmost concern," Southeast Regional Director Joseph A. Feola said in a press release issued Friday.
There has been no impact to water or air quality at Ridley High, Harney said, except in an outside water garden, where there were “slight vapors,” he said. Vapors have also been detected in nearby storm sewers.
The impact to the creek has not yet been determined, and no fines have been issued by the DEP at this time. The PA Fish and Boat Commission visited the site to determine any impact on fish and wildlife. The gas leaked into groundwater and was flushed into the tributary, about 1200 feet from the main branch of Crum Creek.
Crum Creek has a large native trout population, but it remains to be seen if fish there will be affected. However, the leak could have a negative impact on Ridley Park Lake, if the gas is not contained.
"The main impact to the creek is a sheen on the water that has been mitigated by clean up efforts," DEP spokesman Dennis Harney said. Absorbent "booms" - rolls and pads designed to absorb petroleum products - are in place to gather gasoline floating on the water. “Because the water table is very high, the movement of the groundwater toward the storm sewer allowed the gasoline to be transmitted through groundwater movement,” he said.
Crum Creek is the leading drinking water source for Delaware County residents, however, the gas leak will not affect drinking water, since it happened downstream in the tributary. Crum Creek means “crooked creek” in Dutch, and Crum Creek is foremost a Special Protection stream, according to the website of the Chester-Ridley-Crum Creeks Watersheds Association .
Little Crum Creek has been compromised in recent years by industry, development and spills, CRC Executive Director Anne Murphy said. “It has been one thing after another.”
A corroded mounting plate on top of the tank was likely the cause of the leak, the DEP release stated. The gas station had changed hands recently, and the new owners were getting ready to open, Harney said. Previously a Gulf station, the station is now owned under the name of Liberty.
Crum Creek flows 24 miles from the Schuylkill/Delaware drainage ridgeline that follows Monument and King Roads in Malvern and Route 30 in Paoli, through Chester and Delaware Counties to its confluence with the Delaware River in Eddystone at the Boeing plant. The 38 square mile drainage area encompasses 15 municipalities and has a population of approximately 68,000 residents.
For a map of the Crum Creek watershed, go to:
http://crcwatersheds.orghttp://image.examiner.com/img/crum_map.pdf
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