September 02, 2020 - 11:17 AM
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Yellowstone National Park officials expect to reopen a road closed by a gasoline spill sometime within the next week.
The 6-mile (10-kilometre) stretch of two-lane road from Fishing Bridge Junction to Mud Volcano has been closed since a tanker truck rolled on its side Aug. 27.
The commercial truck spilled some 3,000 gallons (11,000 litres) of unleaded gasoline. It was the largest roadside fuel spill in Yellowstone in almost 20 years, park officials said Tuesday.
Workers dug a large hole in the road to assess the extent of the spill and remove contaminated soil. The hole measured about 100 feet (30 metres) wide and 10 feet (3 metres) deep.
No gasoline apparently reached the nearby Yellowstone River.
Park officials were working with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality on removing the contamination for disposal outside the park.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020