Gas Spill Near University [UPDATED]

A gas spill caused a temporary road closure near the University of Wyoming today.

Authorities from the Laramie Police Department confirmed that approximately 75 gallons of diesel fuel leaked out of the tank of a dump truck on 15^th Street between Ivinson Street and Sorority Row. The incident occurred shortly before 11:00 a.m. today and clean-up lasted into the early afternoon.

The driver of the truck reported that he recalled going over a large bump shortly before his truck stopped working. Upon inspection it was found that the hose going to the large diesel gas tank became disconnected or damaged resulting in nearly all of the gas in the tank leaking onto the road. The driver reported that the tank held 150 gallons when full and was at about half a tank when the leak occurred.

Crews from the Laramie Fire Department and the Laramie Police Department blocked the road as a City of Laramie dump truck brought sand to contain the spill. Police officials say the diesel was contained and no fuel leaked into the sewers or ground around the area.

The clean up effort is complete and the road is now open.

On a related note, another gas spill occurred at the Safeway gas station on Third Street. Officials with the police department say the spill occurred when the underground tank for the fuel center was overfilled with diesel. The exact amount of spilled fuel was not known, but the police department said only one fire truck was needed for cleanup and it was considerably smaller than the spill on 15th Street.