Cleaning small fuel spill at Juneau airport requires group work

Two to three gallons of fuel spilled from Alaska Airlines Flight 76 when the auto shut-off failed to work. (Photo courtesy of Marian Call)
As seen from inside the plane: Two to three gallons of fuel spilled from Alaska Airlines Flight 76 when the fueler’s auto shut-off failed to work. (Photo courtesy of Marian Call)

A small fuel spill occurred with an Alaska Airlines jet at the Juneau International Airport Thursday afternoon. As Aero Services was fueling southbound Flight 76 at Gate 4, the auto shut-off function failed to work, spilling two to three gallons of fuel.

Airport manager Patty deLaBruere says the Department of Environmental Conservation was notified and the spill was responded to quickly:

“Capital City Fire and Rescue was called because it’s part of the response team for fuel spills. It’s Alaska Airlines out there helping out, the airport helping out, the actual fueler, which is Aero Services – everybody jumps in to make sure it’s contained rapidly.”

deLaBruere says the majority of the fuel was cleaned up with oil absorbent pads. Any residual sheen, she said, will drain into an oil-water separator.

deLaBruere says small spills happen at the airport about every other year, but it’s been several years since a large spill occurred.

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