Today in Wheeling History: January 8--Wheeling shut off its main water intake on the Ohio River after detecting diesel odors from the Ashland oil spill (1988).
The Ashland oil spill occurred on January 2, 1988, when an Ashland Oil storage tank failed at the company's Floreffe, Pennsylvania facility, spilling approximately 3.85 million gallons of diesel fuel into the Monongahela River. The spill quickly reached the Ohio River, contaminating drinking water supplies and leading to water shortages downstream. In anticipation of the massive spill reaching Wheeling, officials enacted emergency plans several days in advance. Wheeling set up temporary pipelines to nearby unpolluted streams and arranged for barge deliveries of clean water to its treatment plant. However, when Wheeling shut off its main water intake on the Ohio River on January 8, 1988 after detecting diesel odors, the city still came perilously close to running out of water entirely due to the massive oil spill.
To learn more:
(http://tinyurl.com/4xjt47zj) (http://tinyurl.com/4rdxfhpy) (http://tinyurl.com/mr3e2f8c) (http://tinyurl.com/3djemym4) (http://tinyurl.com/2kdphhwj) (http://tinyurl.com/m3x9xps7) (http://tinyurl.com/m43fsfku) (http://tinyurl.com/4e6rru4x)
Photo Credits: Wheeling Intelligencer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Response and Restoration
The Ashland oil spill occurred on January 2, 1988, when an Ashland Oil storage tank failed at the company's Floreffe, Pennsylvania facility, spilling approximately 3.85 million gallons of diesel fuel into the Monongahela River. The spill quickly reached the Ohio River, contaminating drinking water supplies and leading to water shortages downstream. In anticipation of the massive spill reaching Wheeling, officials enacted emergency plans several days in advance. Wheeling set up temporary pipelines to nearby unpolluted streams and arranged for barge deliveries of clean water to its treatment plant. However, when Wheeling shut off its main water intake on the Ohio River on January 8, 1988 after detecting diesel odors, the city still came perilously close to running out of water entirely due to the massive oil spill.
To learn more:
(http://tinyurl.com/4xjt47zj) (http://tinyurl.com/4rdxfhpy) (http://tinyurl.com/mr3e2f8c) (http://tinyurl.com/3djemym4) (http://tinyurl.com/2kdphhwj) (http://tinyurl.com/m3x9xps7) (http://tinyurl.com/m43fsfku) (http://tinyurl.com/4e6rru4x)
Photo Credits: Wheeling Intelligencer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Response and Restoration
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