FAYETTEVILLE — Cleanup of a diesel spill at The Vue apartment complex continued Friday.
The spill happened Thursday morning after a 500-gallon fuel tank fell from a forklift. Officials estimate the spill between 100 and 200 gallons, said Katherine Benenati, public outreach and assistance chief for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
“The estimate of release is unchanged, but may be updated to a closer amount as soon as the responsible party determines how much fuel was in the tank at the time of release,” according to an e-mail.
Benenati identified Park Crest Builders as the responsible party and Andy Hart as the superintendent. The Vue, south of the high school and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, has been under construction for nearly a year.
FCC Environmental, a Little Rock-based company, has been hired to clean up the fuel. Crews will remain at the site until cleanup is complete, according to Benenati. An inspector with the department is reviewing the progress.
John Luther, Washington County Emergency Management director, said the fuel spill should have little to no impact on the environment.
“It may have a small impact on some topsoil and some gravel,” he said. “If it got into a waterway, it would have had a lot of impact. On dirt and rock, it’s very manageable.”
The 656-room apartment complex has been the scene of two deaths in the past two months. A Joplin, Mo., man was electrocuted June 9 when his boom lift hit a power line. A Springdale man was killed in May when a dirt pit collapsed on him.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating both incidents.