News Release 538

DEPARTMENT ASSISTS EXCELSIOR SPRINGS
FIRE DEPARTMENT IN OIL CLEANUP

Volume 35-538

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 15, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources responded Wednesday to a report of spilled oil in an unnamed Excelsior Springs waterway.

The department's Environmental Emergency Response section was contacted shortly after noon Wednesday by Excelsior Springs Fire Chief Kent Cantrell, requesting department assistance with a 55-gallon drum of used motor oil. Officials believed oil from the drum had drained into an unnamed waterway near the intersection of St. Louis Avenue and East Street.

Emergency response on-scene coordinators from the department's Kansas City Regional Office were dispatched to the scene and found an oily sheen on a pool of standing water approximately 20 feet wide by 30 feet long. It was not possible to determine how much oil was in the water or if it had come from the abandoned drum or from another source.

With Excelsior Springs firefighters, Department of Natural Resources responders used absorbent booms and pads to clean the spilled oil. The drum was also removed.

The department's Environmental Emergency Response unit is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department's 24-hour spill line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the spill line at
573-634-2436. For more information, contact the Department of Natural Resources at
800-361-4827 or 573-751-3443 or visit the department's Web page at www.dnr.mo.gov.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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