Hazardous Material Spill

US-36 near Apple Valley Bridge

Earlier this afternoon, Tuesday, April 27th, a tanker truck filled with approximately 8,500 gallons of gasoline fuel rolled over on US-36 at the intersection of Apple Valley and Blue Mountain Road.

The EPA has also been on scene and plans to be here all week. At this time, the EPA does not have an estimate of how much gasoline has soaked into the soil and how much went directly into the river. The EPA will be stationed in Lyons taking water samples at different locations to measure where the gasoline is dissipating. 

Fish and Wildlife has been contacted and will be conducting a fish count. Fish and Wildlife has asked the local Lyons community to stay away from the river and to not remove any fish or leave any along the stream bank as contaminated fish are harmful to other mammals and birds. 

Colorado State Patrol, CDOT, the Colorado Dept of Health and Environment as well as Boulder County HazMat crew have all been engaged and have been working to mitigate additional fuel spill hazards. 

The City of Longmont was notified immediately in regards to local drinking water.

The local ponds in Lyons (near McConnell bridge) are fed by ground water and should not be impacted. 

Boulder County Sheriff's Office is on scene and anticipates that the road will be closed for a while. There is a roadblock set up currently, with detour via Apple Valley.

We know that this event has impacted our community especially as many of us have been thinking about all we can do to protect our planet, with Earth Day last week and a river clean up planned for this weekend. We will continue to update our community as we get more information.