Tanker’s gasoline spill reminds that “we all live on the riverfront”

A tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of unleaded gas rolled over at Interstate 94 and Interstate 394 in Minneapolis on January 9th, spilling several thousand gallons of its load into a storm sewer that empties into the Mississippi River near the 10th Avenue Bridge and the site of the I-35W bridge reconstruction.

Working under the guidance of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, West Central Environmental Consultants installed booms at the sewer outlet near the bridges. The booms helped collect and soak up gasoline flushed from the sewer. Despite the successful containment of 2,000 gallons of a gasoline-water mix, there were reports of dead fish where gasoline reached the river.

Paul Labovitz, superintendent of the National Park Services Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in the Twin Cities, authored a timely guest commentary published in the Star Tribune on January 14. Headlined In the Twin Cities, We All Live on the Riverfront, the commentary quoted FMRs Whitney Clark: This spill is a very unfortunate reminder that, especially in urban areas, everything we do on the land has an impact on the Mississippi River. From lawn fertilizer to pet waste to tanker spills, it all drains to our beloved river and everyone downstream.

Read Superintendent Labovitz commentary in the Star Tribune.

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