Police: Oil spill in Pa. was intentional act
LUDLOW, Pa. (AP) — State environmental officials tried Tuesday to determine how many thousand gallons of oil spilled into streams that empty into a northwestern Pennsylvania reservoir in what police allege was an intentional act by two former oil company workers.
Andrew Horton, 42, of Bradford, dropped off his son, Christopher Horton, 22, at tanks owned by Snyder Brothers Inc. in the Allegheny National Forest, police said. The younger man opened valves and damaged equipment, spilling at least 10,000 gallons of oil sometime Saturday or Sunday, police said.
The Department of Environmental Protection originally estimated that some 36,000 gallons had been spilled into two streams that empty into the Kinzua Reservoir. But getting an exact figure was difficult because of the damaged equipment, spokeswoman Freda Tarbell said Tuesday.
About two miles of Indian Run and about four miles of Chappel Fork were polluted by the spill, which killed an undetermined number of fish, reptiles and amphibians. An in-depth environmental assessment will begin later this week, Tarbell said.
“What makes this especially painful, however, is that Chappel Fork is one of the very rare places in Pennsylvania where wild trout naturally reproduce,” Tarbell said.