US-36 HazMat Spill Update

WED APR 28 5:00 PM UPDATE

The Town of Lyons and the Lyons Fire Protection District wants to ensure that our community has the most up to date information regarding the hazardous material spill that happened on Tuesday, April 27 around noon time, along US-36 westbound just before the Apple Valley Bridge.

The Town of Lyons, Boulder County Public Health, Colorado State Patrol Hazardous Materials, Lyons Fire Protection District and the Environmental Protection Agency  are working cooperatively and have the following updates:

Earlier today, April 28, the semi-truck hauling premium gasoline was uprighted by a contracting crew. Based on the amount of gasoline remaining in the semi-truck once upright, Colorado State Patrol Hazardous Materials Division estimates that 500 -1,000 gallons of fuel went into the river. This is less than the original estimate from last night.

Response teams have started containment and recovery operations. The response phase is over and the recovery phase is now in place. The EPA is working  together with the State and the County to coordinate a comprehensive clean up plan. 
Crews will be working from dawn to dusk for the next 3 to 4 days on recovery. Their goal is to have the remediation team and their work complete by mid-day Saturday.

The EPA stated that in their experience the worst part is over in regards to contamination.  They also stated that natural sunshine and the turbidity of our water through town helps to dissipate the gasoline. The EPA recovery team will continue daily water sampling for documentation.

US-36 remains closed through the weekend. Semi trucks are advised to take Highway 34 via Loveland or State Highway 7 via Allenspark.

This is now considered a private insurance claim which the EPA, State and County will bill out to. The Town of Lyons is not financially responsible. 

For our neighbors in Apple Valley, the EPA thinks it is unlikely that a private well would be impacted down steam unless they are drawing water from the creek. Boulder County has a list of certified labs a homeowner could reach out to for testing their well.  

Regarding river access and water, Boulder County Public Health noted that if you are in doubt, stay out. Certainly if you can smell gas, do not enter the water. 
We also hope to make a final decision about the planned river clean up scheduled for May 1 in the next 12-18 hours and will post that as well. 

We wanted to include some links for those who would like additional detailed information.

If we have more updates to share we will post these public information releases and briefings via the Town E-blast. 

We remind all residents in the Town of Lyons to please sign up for the Boulder County emergency messaging system.