Northern Scott County Gas Station Still Leaking Biodiesel Two Weeks After Leak Was Discovered

SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ)-A biodiesel leak in Northern Scott County is still pouring into Eagle Creek. A clean up crew working on it has been looking for solutions from sun up to sun down since a week before Thanksgiving and they still have not been able to stop the leak.

Lori Brooks says she has lived on the creek her whole life.
“So many memories playing down at the creek,” she said, thinking of days spent catching tadpoles and fish with her brother. She says she wants the same experience for her three young boys so she was devastated to hear an estimated 3-5,000 gallons of biodiesel from the Love’s gas station up the hill have leaked into the creek.

“It’s a lot for an enclosed structure like this,” said Michael Hennigan, Deputy Director of Scott County Emergency Management.

The enclosed structure he is referring to is the half mile of creek the biodiesel is contained to. Hennigan says his agency started investigating after someone called in to report a strange substance on the legs of cows that had been in the water.

“We’re used to 100 or 200 gallons getting away and so far they’ve pumped about 80,000 gallons of contaminated water out of here so it’s the biggest one I’ve seen in my career,” Hennigan said.

The spill has killed 2,000 fish, but the clean up crew says they have been able to contain the damage and wildlife is coming back. It is not soon enough, though, for neighbors.

“We got all that noise down there and we’re used to it being so quiet out here and we hear them and see their lights and everything so it’s kind of interrupted our peace,” Brooks said.

Emergency Management says they do expect a guest next week to help them figure  out where the leak is coming from. That visitor will be the person who designed Love’s biodiesel system.

Love’s has not returned our request for comment.