Officials start cleanup of two Trumbull gas and oil spills

NEWTON FALLS

Several environmental agencies responded to two spills of gas and oil — one at a gas station in Newton Falls Tuesday morning and one at an oil well in Bristol Township Monday night.

A gas-delivery driver spilled a couple hundred gallons of gasoline while delivering gas at Convenient Food Mart, 321 S. Milton St., at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to Deputy Harold Wix, environmental officer with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office.

The spill put gasoline on the sidewalk and parking lot of the gas station, but it didn’t reach the storm drain, Wix said.

Officials with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Trumbull County HazMat worked on the cleanup.

The driver of the truck drove off after the spill but was stopped by Lake Milton police. Newton Falls police are investigating that part of the incident and will determine whether any criminal charges will be filed against the driver, Wix said.

A dump-truck load of sand and other materials were used to clean up the gasoline, Wix said.

Officials also were called at 9:11 p.m. Monday to a spill of close to 1,000 gallons of gas and oil from a holding tank at an oil well on state Route 88 just west of Corey-Hunt Road in Bristol Township, Wix said.

Trumbull HazMat went to the scene right away and stopped the spill from getting into a creek, Wix said. Also working at the site were the Ohio EPA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The spill resulted from a malfunction of the well’s holding tank, which was full, Wix said.

Cleanup continued Tuesday morning, with a machine being used to suck up the oil and gas from on top of the soil. Additional cleanup will most likely involve digging up soil to get to the rest, Wix said.