Tanker spills gallons at a gas station in Hannibal, Missouri

HANNIBAL (WGEM) – A tanker carrying 3,000 gallons of ethanol spilled over at a gas station earlier Wednesday afternoon.

Right beside an Areyco gas station, several hands were on deck getting the site cleaned up as quickly and safely as possible.

Marion County’s Emergency Management Director John Hark said the tractor was having issues, so the driver backed into the station to unhook it and replace it with another tractor, but during the process a mechanical issue with the dollies caused the the tank to tip over, punching a hole in the front.

By the time first responders got to the scene, an estimated 200 gallons were spilled. They were able to clean up the tank and salvage the rest in under an hour.

“Whenever you can get it diked and get it stopped like this and stuff to where it can’t get off into drainage ditches or creeks or anything like that….containment…is a very big thing. They’ve done an excellent job at containing it real quick,” said Hark.

Hark said most of the ethanol was absorbed by the sand and the rest will evaporate.

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