Colonial Pipeline Leak Is Contained Saturday Afternoon

First responders were dispatched to a reported pipeline leak early this afternoon off Suck Creek road at the boat ramp. Assistant Chief Danny Hague with the haz-mat team said the pipeline belongs to Colonial Pipeline, and he described it as a very small leak of gasoline. 

Dispatchers with 911 Communications initially were not sure of the location, so the haz-mat team with Hamilton County Emergency Services was dispatched first. When it was confirmed the leak was just inside the city limits, the Chattanooga Fire Department sent its haz-mat team as well. Both teams worked together on the spill, and they were assisted by the Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department, which provided a boat to deploy containment booms on the Tennessee River. Other members of the two haz-mat teams deployed containment booms and absorbent materials on Shoal Creek, which empties into the Tennessee River.

Chief Hague said no evacuations were necessary and the leak posed no threat to the public or the environment. He said the containment booms were being used out of an abundance of caution to catch any of the gasoline that might have made its way into the creek or river. 

Technicians with Colonial Pipeline will repair the pipeline, and they will be responsible for any cleanup that is required.