By Molly Montag, Mason City Globe Gazette

globegazette.com

HANLONTOWN — Crews have sucked up about 25,000 gallons of diesel and a slush-diesel mixture that came from a pipeline that broke north of Hanlontown Tuesday morning, officials said.

Crews discovered the break about 8 a.m. near 390th Street and Wheelerwood Road.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it was informed the spill was about 63,000 gallons, or 1,500 barrels, of fuel.

The fuel had pooled in a farm field.

As of 1:30 p.m., about 25,000 gallons of diesel and diesel-contaminated snow had been removed, a Worth County official said.

Crews were hauling in rock and lights so the clean-up and repair efforts could continue throughout the night.

Update: Hanlontown pipeline break hasn’t impacted nearby slough, officials say

1:30 p.m. update
HANLONTOWN, Iowa — An approximately 63,000 gallon spill from a broken pipeline near Hanlontown does not appear to have affected nearby wildlife areas, officials say.

The Mason City office of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was notified about 8 a.m. Wednesday that a 12-inch pipe owned by Magellan Midstream Partners had leaked diesel near 390th Street and Wheelerwood Road, said David Miller, an Iowa DNR environmental specialist.

That’s near Willow Creek, which runs just east of Wheelerwood, and the Hanlontown Slough Waterfowl Production Area, which is on the west side of Wheelerwood just south of 390th Street.

“There’s a bit pool of diesel fuel out in a field and it has not gotten into Willow Creek or the Hanlontown Slough as far as we can tell,” said Miller, of the Mason City office. “(Magellan’s crews) going to recover all the liquid product and they’re going to excavate all the contaminated soil.”

Miller was told the spill involved 1,500 barrels of fuel, which is roughly 63,000 gallons.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa DNR have joined Magellan and local officials at the scene, he said.

A stretch of Wheelerwood — from 390th to 410th streets — has been closed so the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based pipeline company can get crews in to repair the leak and clean up the mess.

Although local officials and Magellan’s representatives initially said one residence was evacuated, a spokesman for the company later said that was incorrect and no one was evacuated as a result of the spill.

The break is roughly three miles north and one mile east of Hanlontown.

That’s about a half-mile west of Interstate 35.