News Release 551

DEPARTMENT RESPONDS
TO PARKING LOT COLLAPSE AT FERGUSON SERVICE STATION

Volume 35-551

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 27, 2007 -- Emergency responders from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources were called Monday to investigate a petroleum product release caused by the collapse of a portion of Ferguson service station parking lot.

Officials from the Ferguson Fire Department contacted the department's Environmental Emergency Response section late Monday after a storm sewer draining collapsed under the parking lot of Convenience Food Mart, 1108 South Florissant. Local fire officials noted the smell of petroleum products and contacted the department.

An environmental emergency responder was dispatched from Route 66 State Park and found that approximately 10-20 gallons of kerosene had entered the storm sewer when the collapse damaged a pipe that connected an underground storage tank to a service pump. The storm sewer empties into a creek approximately 150 yards from the collapse, but further investigation determined that none of the fuel had left the site of the collapse.

The department's Environmental Emergency Response section 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 spill line at
573-634-2436. For more information contact the Missouri 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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