GALENA PARK – Authorities are investigating a major gasoline spill from two storage tanks in Galena Park, damaged by flood waters from Hurricane Harvey. The tanks belong to Magellan Midstream, in Galena Park. The spill happened on Thursday, August 31 but was just recently reported.
The size of the spill, 11,000 barrels or 461,000 gallons, makes this a major environmental problem. However, the company said that they were able to contain the spill almost immediately, and only a small amount leaked into a drainage ditch and on to the Ship Channel. Spokesperson Bruce Heine said that the company covered the spill with firefighting foam to prevent harmful vapors from escaping into the air, and used containment floats to keep the liquid from spreading, and then it was recovered. They are currently excavating contaminated soil and trucking it to an approved landfill.
The Magellan terminal is near Hunting Bayou and the Ship Channel in Galena Park. The original estimate of the size of the spill was 1000 barrels, but raised when officials were able to access the area.
Harvey floodwaters caused other spills, from ExxonMobil, Valero , KinderMorgan, and Phillips elsewhere in Texas.