Crude Problem

This will be a "tricky" one to clean up, says the EPA, it what usually tends to be an understatement. 

The Cincinnati Enquirer  reports that on Monday, about 10,000 gallons of crude oil from an underground pipeline spilled into a stream and marshy pond in Ohio's Oak Glen Nature Preserve, about 20 miles north of Cincinnati. The leak was discovered not by the company but by a driver who smelled oil and pulled over to find the source. The paper checked federal records for the pipeline's most recent inspection: 2011.

Cleanup crews were preparing to vacuum the wetlands; Reuters reports Sunoco was "not immediately available for comment."

From 2006-13, leaks and spills from the pipeline caused $7.5 million in property damage, and the Enquirer reports this is "at least the third time in the last decade that oil has leaked in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region from this pipe, owned by Sunoco Logistics and operated by Mid-Valley Pipeline Co., both subsidiaries of Sunoco. It is the 40th incident since 2006 along the pipeline, which stretches 1,100 miles from Texas to Michigan, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration."

EPA and local officials are holding a press conference at 10 AM today. -- Barbara Bedway