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EPA Notified Of Large Oklahoma Fuel Spill

Three Forks Harbor Marina
Three Forks Harbor, Port of Muskogee
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Wikipedia Commons

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says the Environmental Protection Agency has been notified of a large fuel spill in the Arkansas Kerr-McClellan Navigation Channel in Muskogee County.

The patrol says the spill in the Three Forks area of the channel and appeared to be on the surface of the water. The U.S. Coast Guard's National Response Center was notified of the spill about 2:10 p.m. Saturday and the EPA was to be alerted for possible cleanup action.

Oklahoma marine enforcement units unsuccessfully attempted to locate the source of the spill with the state's air boat. The patrol says the state Department of Environment Quality is now in control of the scene.

The Tulsa World reports that the spill was 46 miles long but was not deemed a threat.

Skylar McElhane, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality public information officer, said officials never found any dead fish. McElhaney said the spill isn’t a substantial amount despite its length, so the plan is to let it disperse naturally. Timmons said the leak’s source wasn’t a vessel and that the substance isn’t oil. Officials speculated the substance could be diesel fuel but didn’t know for certain. Though the source wasn’t located, Timmons said officials believed the substance to be no longer leaking.

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