Amount of fuel spilled at RAF Fairford unknown

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Amount of fuel spilled at RAF Fairford unknown
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, February 27, 2009

Thousands of gallons of jet fuel spilled out of a storage facility at RAF Fairford on Wednesday afternoon, but Air Force officials have yet determine exactly how much.

The Air Force had pegged the spill at about 3,000 gallons until Thursday evening when a spokeswoman said that figure likely was underestimated. Meanwhile, the U.K. Environment Agency estimated the spill at about 17,000 gallons, according to its spokeswoman.

Some of the fuel flowed beyond the earthen containment site near the storage facility and into a ditch off base, said Tech. Sgt. Kristina Barrett, base spokeswoman.

The spill did not affect animals or plant life and did not seep into public water sources, Barrett said.

However, the Environment Agency, part of the response and clean-up effort at the site, contends some discharge made its way to the Dunfield Beck watercourse toward Marston Masey and that the agency is still assessing the impact, according to an e-mailed statement from Elisa Wilson, the agency’s spokeswoman.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61009