Whitefish Fuel Leak

It’s time for answers on fuel leakPosted:

Saturday, Aug 11, 2007 - 11:58:33 pm MDT

Two years is a long time to go without answers when it comes to water quality in the Flathead Valley. Yet that’s exactly what has happened with a gasoline seep into the Whitefish River near the bridge on U.S. 93.Whitefish City Council member Velvet Phillips-Sullivan started asking the state Department of Environmental Quality about the fuel leak more than two years ago and has publicly expressed frustration with DEQ’s lack of action on numerous occasions. On Monday, Whitefish Lake Institute Director Mike Koopal expressed the same sentiment, saying “I’ve talked to three people with DEQ and I’m frustrated with their timeline to mitigate this.”After all of this time, the state agency does not know where the seep is coming from, though it’s possible the foul-smelling effluent is coming from one of Town Pump’s underground tanks. Town Pump has cooperated by hiring a consulting firm to drill for soil samples in the area. But the contamination could be coming from some other historic source, officials say.The state’s Kalispell specialist said samples taken two years ago were inconclusive because the “equipment couldn’t go as deep as we needed.” That, frankly, is a lame answer. Are they going on the assumption that no news is good news?

In the meantime, booms were put in place to contain the spill, but recreationists have told the Inter Lake they’re largely ineffective and sometimes end up downriver.Perhaps the pollution matter will get off dead center now that the Whitefish City Council has decided to write a letter to DEQ and send a copy to the governor. Koopal brought bottles of the gasoline-laced water to the council this week and council members were appalled at the foul smell.The state also maintains the leak doesn’t pose any danger for those recreating on the river since gas vaporizes quickly on surface water. We’re not sure we’d want to take a dip there.The city of Whitefish is right to hold DEQ’s feet to the fire. It appears some vigilant oversight will be needed to get the agency to move forward in a timely manner.

What is Going on With the Pollutions

Allowed in the Whitefish River
What DOES DEQ Care about anyway.

Seems to me that this is an Emergency

and those with authority to act
really DO NOT care.

Whitefish Montana Fires

Whitefish Fires are Not Really Letting Up.

Sad but True, the Fires of Northwest Montana show no sign of letting up. People are evacuating more and more every day. The ranchers have their cattle in the high country for the season and their fate does not look good.

Whitefish Fires News

SEELEY LAKE, Mont. -
A wildfire near this resort town could continue into the fall unless it rains, even though work to restrain the blaze is showing results, fire managers said Wednesday.
"We've got about a month and a half of this left," safety officer Scott Bates told fire crews at a Wednesday morning briefing.
"You guys have got to pace yourselves," he told firefighters, urging them to get plenty of rest.
Fire commander Glen McNitt said the area usually doesn't see substantial rainfall until mid-September and it was conceivable the fire could last until then. "This country will burn, and it will burn fast and furious," he said. More At... http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/08/ap4001814.html

Weather slows Brush Creek fireBy MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
WHITEFISH n Jack Price quit smoking last year, the year he turned 40.“But I don’t know why the hell I bothered,” he complained, waving his arms through a thick pall of smog. “It’s a pack-a-day habit out here. I’m just about sick and tired of these fires, though, I can tell you that for a fact.”Price was a grumpy ball of energy Monday morning, grumbling at the cell phone which wouldn’t lock a signal, shouting at the horses that wouldn’t trailer up, coughing in the smoke that wrapped everything in its heat.
“Thing is,” he said, “they aren’t even my horses.”

More at ....
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/08/07/news/mtregional/news09.txt

More Northwest Montana Fire Updates at
www.NorthwestMontana.com

Fuel Leak in Whitefish, Montana

Is There a Fuel Leak in Whitefish Montana ?

Who or What is the Cause of This Leak ?

Apparantly residents in the air think it is coming from a local town pump and has asked the Whitefish Council to get to the bottom of what is really going on.

Apparantly the Whitefish Lake Institute Director Mike Koopal passed around water samples taken from the seep on the south side of the river and told the council that benzene levels in the samples were 39 times the level allowed for drinking water. This is amazing. Search online for more information on the whitefish fuel leak and water pollution situation.