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Wednesday, July 27, 1977
University Daily Kansan
Gasoline spill damages property resident tells county commission
By CHRISTOPHER COX
Staff Writer
A rural Douglas County man appeared before county commissioners Monday to complain that a June 6 gasoline spill from a pipeline company's line damaged his property. He asked the commissioners to inform the company's conditional use permit.
The man, Ralph King, Rt. 2, told commissioners that about 800 barrels of high grade, lead-containing gasoline had spilled from a pumping station in northeastern Douglas County. The state is owned by Williams Brooc. Pipeline Co of Tulsa, Oka. and the city where the property, which is rented to Wayne Parks, Rt. 3, and property owned by Dick Wise, Rt. 3. King charged that the gasoline had also spilled into a nearby creek.
He said that this was the third spill from the pipeline during the past several years, but that previous spills, which he said were oil spills, had never been this large.
Parks said yesterday the first oil spill was in September 1970, a year after he began renting King's property. The second spill, he said, happened a year ago.
King said because previous spills had occurred, the commissioners should revoke the company's conditional use permit. If no permit has been issued, King said, the commissioners should determine the reason it hasn't.
Wayne Kellum, county zoning administrator, said that he had checked the pump station for a leak and no conditional use permit had been granted to the pump station. He said the commission did issue another kind of permit in connection with building and a pipeline junction at that site.
Kellum aid that when the permit was granted in 1969, the zoning regulations apparently allowed permits to be issued to utility companies upon approval by the commission. Hearings are now required for granting of conditional use permits.
Wise said part of his pasture was saturated with some of the estimated 33,600 gallons of gasoline, contaminating the hay for his cattle. Wise said a laboratory in Topeka confirmed that the hay contained from the gasoline.
Wise said he had to build a fence to keep his cattle from eating the contaminated hay and that the pipeline company paid for the fence.
Wise said he has been meeting with pipeline company representatives since the spill occurred to settle for the damage caused by the spill, but said no value has been agreed upon. Wise declined to comment on his damage estimate.
Parks said he had to move his cattle from the area of the spill because the gasoline had contaminated the water source they drank from. He said the gasoline also soaked a feeding area the cattle used which had to be fenced off.
He has had to keep his cattle away from the contaminated pasture and water.
Parks said the gasoline had soaked into the dry soil and into the water table. He said during the heavy rains last month the gasoline had drained into a nearby slough and creek.
William Bryson, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said that between 35 and 40 barrels of gasoline were cleaned up at the spill site on June 6, but the pipeline company had estimated the loss at 800 barrels. Bryson said the spill was caused by a faulty valve in the pipeline.
Loan program to aid students
A guaranteed student loan program for Kansas college and University students has been approved by the U.S. Commissioner of Education, Gov. Robert Bennett said yesterday.
The loan program, which will be financed and administered by the Higher Education Assistance Foundation, will provide loans for students who haven't been able to get loans for college study from commercial lenders.
However, the program won't be of much help to University of Kansas students immediately, according to Jerry Rogers, advisor of the Office of Student Financial Aid.
'We can't do anything until the ap applications in September, after students, and the bonds to finance the funds are sold,' Rogers said yesterday.
John Conard, executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents, said the foundation intended to begin processing loan applications in September, after requirements of the Higher Education Act have been met.
The program is designed to guarantee loans made to qualified students by commercial lenders, make direct loans to students unable to obtain them from commercial lenders and repay commercial lenders on defaulted loans.
Applications for loans will be received primarily through the Office of Student Finance.
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Bryson said the estimate was based on monitoring equipment readings the company had taken. He said most of the gasoline evaporated or soaked into the ground.
No real danger exists now, Bryson said, but he said that rains could force the gasoline from the ground and into surface water supplies.
Editor Business Manager Julie Williams Larry Kelley
Bryson said the slough area on the property that Parks rents had been checked a couple of times since the June 6 spill. The most recent check of the slough showed a film of petroleum. He said the creek showed no petroleum film.
Bryson said he checked the area near the valve where the spill originated on July 21, 2008. He noted that the spill originated on
As far as he knew, Bryson said, the pipeline company hadn't broken any laws because the company reported the spill to the Environmental Protection Agency, cleaned it up and had assured Bryson that they would keep the area cleaned up.
Bryson said he didn't check the creek or slough on that day.
Parks said the pipeline company hadn't kept the spill area on his property very clean and added that the company had pumped gasoline from a ditch once.
Bryson said the Williams Bros. Pipeline Co. had suffered "no more spills and no less" than any other pipeline company in the country, that many pipelines had occasional failures.
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TONIGHT: A MUSICAL MYSTERY BICYCLE TOUR, sponsored by the Mt. Oread Bicycle Club, will start at 6 p.m. in South Park. A double elimination SINGLES TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT, sponsored by the Kansas University, will start at p.m. in Robinson South Gyrmium. ARSA FILM, "Shoot the Piano Player," will be at 7:30 in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Admission is $1. "A FUNNY WAY TO THE FORUM" was ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, which was directed by the Kansas Repertory Theatre at 8 in the University Theatre, Murray Hall.
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