2009.07.29
Company settles Giles Co. fuel spill for $20k
A bulk oil distributor has agreed to pay a civil charge of $20,420 in connection with a tanker wreck and fuel spill last year in Giles County.
Foster Fuels Inc. of Brookneal owes the money within 30 days of last week’s settlement with the Virginia Department of Environment Quality.
In settling, the company said it neither admits nor denies facts asserted by the DEQ or the DEQ’s conclusion that the company illegally discharged oil into the environment in the incident.
A truck from Foster carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel and kerosene overturned on a curve in the community of White Gate on Feb. 14, 2008. The impact tore open the tanker and most of the fuel escaped into the ground and a spring, according to findings attached to a legal settlement called a consent special order. The document was signed last week by a representative of the DEQ and last month by company vice president Watt Foster.
A cleanup crew pumped 360 gallons of fuel from the damaged tanker and recovered 4,513 gallons from the area. The DEQ said 2,627 gallons “remain in the environment.”
Some of the fuel followed the spring into Big Walker Creek and impacted property downstream.
State police identified the truck driver as Jeffrey Arnold Claytor of Bedford. Police said speed was a factor in the crash. Claytor was found not guilty of reckless driving, according to Giles County General District Court. He still drives for Foster Fuels.
-- Jeff Sturgeon | The Roanoke Times
