SUMMERSIDE - Police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying the driver of the vehicle involved in a major gasoline spill at St. Eleanor's Circle K Irving.
Sgt. Barry Arsenault said surveillance video has been reviewed which helped to identify the vehicle. Officers are now tracking down who rented the truck, but the police must still identify who was actually behind the wheel.
"What we need is who was driving it, because it may not be the same person," he said.
Police are treating the incident as a hit and run.
Irving Oil Marketing spokesperson Liza Dube said the video shows the customer striking the fuel dispenser, getting out of his vehicle, seeing the damaged pump and then driving away without notifying anyone.
"The collision caused significant external and underground damage," Dube said.
The impact broke an underground gasoline line releasing more than 7,000 litres of fuel. Dube said workers at the Irving were not aware of the incident until a bell went off signaling the fuel pump was empty.
"The dispenser and all safety features were up to code at the time of the incident," Dube said. "All materials are inspected annually."
Still in need of gas, the man driving the U-Haul showed up at Ramsay's Ultramar on South Drive about 10 minutes after leaving the St. Eleanor's Irving.
"The U-Haul truck filled up with gas, he came inside and paid for it and then as he was pulling out he ran into the pump," reported Ramsay's Ultramar manager Tim Ramsay.
"He stopped, looked back at the incident, and then drove off."
Ramsay reported that there was a small leak as a result of the collision, but that it was quickly contained. One of the gasoline pumps, that would fuel two vehicles, was significantly damaged.
Anyone who saw the truck at either service station is asked to contact the police.
Hazardous materials specialist Glenda MacKinnon-Peters said workers spent Tuesday drilling holes into the ground at St. Eleanor's Irving to determine the specific area of underground contamination. She said Irving would then submit a remedial action plan, stating how it plans to address the contamination, to the Environment Department for review.
"It's a substantial amount of work to get that site back to the condition it was before," she said. "It's going to have to all be opened up so the piping can be fixed."
During the investigation and cleanup, gas pumps will be closed but the store and restaurant will remain open. MacKinnon-Peters said it could be several weeks before St. Eleanor's gas pumps will be back in business.
Driver hits pump, causing major gasoline spill
Driver hits pump, causing major gasoline spill
- Published on June 2nd, 2010
- Published on June 15th, 2010
-
Amber Nicholson
- Number of views : 980
- Rate
- Top of the page
Comments
-
- XComa
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:16:58
unBelievable.. Some Humans are Horrible.
-
- Bill
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:16:32
Do they not have the person on video paying for the gasoline at the second location?
How can it be so hard to find this person, it seems a little bit of detective work might be required, I stress a LITTLE bit of detective work.
These large U-Haul trucks should not be permitted to be driven without training.
They are basically a 3 ton truck, but they go out of their way to have hydraulic brakes and a single rear axle so anybody with a class 5 license can legally drive them.
When are they going to change this? When somebody gets killed??? -
- bottleboy63
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:07:25
most untrained drivers cant back up a car let alone a 20 or 25 foot truck so maybe a class 3 liscence should be required I dont think i would want that cleanup bill. Irving will come out on top of this somehow
-
- WHY?????
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:53:57
What I want to know is what type of person does something like that and drives away, thinking it wont' catch up to them. Well WRONG they have the truck on video and Im sure they will find who rented the truck and hopefully they will be punished. Yes accidents DO happen but we admit to them not run away from them.
-
- Den
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:51:45
Scary thing is, some bleeding hearted liberal will be perfectly fine with an idiot like this on our highways. They will say it is their right to drive and not a privilege.
-
- Shirley
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:45:43
WOW and this is what is out there driving and meeting us on our highways someone who cannot even drive in and fill up at gas stations with a u haul on behind without hitting tanks at both locations.SCARY!!!!!!!!thought.
