Hazmat Spill On Rt. 202 Was Sunoco's Volatile Pentane: DEP

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — The hazardous material spill that shut down Rt. 202 on Wednesday was pentane, a volatile substance used in the extraction of oil and natural gas from oil shale rock.

The shipment was on its way from Energy Transfer Partners/Sunoco Marcus Hook, Pa. plant to the SXL Montello Terminal in Sinking Springs, the Department of Environmental Protection confirmed today.

DEP's Virginia Cain said DEP evaluated the situation in coordination with the other responding parties and determined that although there was a release."

The release evaporated quickly, Cain said, as opposed to igniting, so "There did not appear to be a significant need for additional resources, evacuation, or elevated concern."

The truck's tank is capable of holding 8,500 gallons, but Chester County Emergency Services said, "not all of it spilled out." The amount leaked has not yet been provided, but the DEP described it as "dripping from the truck."

Response to the leaking pentane closed down Rt. 2020 in Westtown Township from late Wednesday morning well into the afternoon, as traffic was diverted to allow Emergency Response teams to contain and clean up, while police kept people out of the area.

Patty Mains, Assistant Director for External Liaison and Public Information, Chester County Department of Emergency Services, explained the response to the hazmat spill included "recognition and awareness of close proximity of the event to surrounding organizations."

This organizations included four schools: Stetson Middle School, Sunrise of Westtown, Jefferson at Westtown, and an unnamed charter school.

The West Chester Fire Department (WCFD) and the Chester County HazMat Team (Hazmat) responded to the incident, as Westtown-East Goshen Police Department (WEGO) closed Route 202 and stopped all traffic in both the northbound and southbound lanes late Wednesday morning.

"HazMat continued to work very closely with the WCFD, WEGO Police Department, the Westtown Emergency Management Coordinator on location throughout the incident," Mains said.

Hose lines were in place to prevent fires and in case of any ignition, as workers set about to identify the material leaking, control and mitigate the situation, according to County Emergency Services.

The team secured emergency valves on the leaking trailer, then set up a tank trap to capture any leaking product, Mains explained.

Air in the general area was monitored, and Emergency Services reported the only abnormal readings were measured very close to the trailer, and those measures were of very low level Volatile Organic Compounds.

There is "no concern for surrounding community," Mains reported. "Winds that day were between 5 -10 mph and any odors cleared the area very rapidly."

Hazmat worked in coordination with the truck driver and the safety manager of the trucking company who were on location, and worked in phone contact with other trucking company representatives, the county said in a media release that did not name the trucking company.

A photo of the incident shows the logo of C Three Logistics, LLC, of Pottsgrove, NJ. The company had not responded for comment by publication time.

HazMat coordinated with a PennDOT Supervisor on location, and communicated with the PA DEP Emergency Response Manager,

Following control of the leak, HazMat worked very closely with the trucking company and coordinated safe transfer of product from the trailer leaking to a second trailer, the county said.

Any remaining product captured in the collection trap under the leaking trailer was removed off-site by the trucking company, said Mains.

Uses for pentane include "supercritical pentane as an extractant for oil shale" a patented method of "extracting a hydrocarbon-based product from subsurface (oil) shale formations," according to a 2013 U.S. Patent document.

In other words, pentane is used to facilitate extraction of petroleum and natural gas - both hydrocarbons - from sedimentary rock like oil shale.

A description of the patent says, "These methods rely on the use of an extraction fluid comprising pentane for facilitating the production of a mobile hydrocarbon-based product when the pentane contacts hydrocarbons in subsurface shale. The contacting process, and the subsequent process of recovering the mobile hydrocarbon-based product, is further enhanced by the methods of fracturing and/or rubblizing portions of the shale formation, so as to enhance their fluid permeability."