ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - An unscheduled evening inspection of the Fort Liard Fuel Centre's tank farm lessened the extent of a gasoline leak.

Gordon Isaiah, an assistant with Beaver Enterprises, was out for a ride on May 26 at 7 p.m. when he decided to check the tank farm located at the junction of Highway 7 and the Fort Liard access road. At the site Isaiah said he noticed a small stain near the berm and traced it back to the tank where he discovered the leak.

Approximately 700 litres of gasoline leaked out of the tank on the right at the Fort Liard Fuel Centre's tank farm on May 26. - photo courtesy of Ken Lambert, Department of Environment and Natural Resources

There are three 100,000 litre tanks at the site including one that's used to store gasoline. Isaiah found gasoline seeping out between the tank and the cement pad it sits on.

It's estimated that 700 litres of gas escaped from the tank, said Isaiah. For reference, a typical fuel drum holds 205 litres.

The leak was likely caused by corrosion, he said.

The single wall tank sits directly on a cement pad. Water could have gotten between the pad and the tank and with enough time caused corrosion and the subsequent leak, he said.

The daily routine inspection done Monday morning showed no signs of trouble. Isaiah said he's glad he decided to check the site that night.

"I could have been a lot worse," he said.

The tank had approximately 49,000 litres of fuel in it at the time of the leak.

Work began right away to address the situation. Empty tanks being held in storage were used to hold the fuel from the leaking tank, said Isaiah. By 6 .a.m on Tuesday morning the structure was emptied.

The berm around the tank also failed allowing approximately 150 litres to get out, said Isaiah.

The contaminated soil has been collected and prepared for transportation to B.C. for disposal. Over five days, vacuum trucks were also brought to the site to clean out all of the gravel and fuel from inside the berm. The contents of the trucks have already been taken to B.C.

"We're doing due diligence and everything. It's our land and we want our kids to enjoy it," said Isaiah.

An investigation is underway into the sequence of events and the background surrounding the spill, said Ken Lambert, the regional environmental protection officer for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

At this time no charges are being considered in relation to the incident, he said.

The size of the spill is "relatively small" but because of the product involved and the amount in the tank it could have been very serious, said Lambert.

"It's lucky they found the leak when they did," he said.

Although some soil in the immediate area was contaminated Lambert said this spill isn't like the one in May in Trout Lake. In that case some of the 9,500 litres of fuel was able to reach a body of water, he said.

Lambert said staff with Beaver Enterprises handled the situation well.

"It was a prompt response," said Lambert.

Beaver Enterprises, of which the Fort Liard Fuel Centre is a subsidiary, is now working to dismantle all three of the existing tanks and install new ones, Isaiah said.

"It will take a while to take out the old tanks," he said.

The age of the existing tanks is uncertain. They were near Wrigley in the early 1970s and were fitted with new bottoms and moved to their current location in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Isaiah said.

So far two new double walled 50,000 litre tanks have arrived to take their place. Two more are expected before the end of the week.

For now the new tanks will be situated in the middle of the tank farm site. As the old tanks are removed and the berm is fixed they will be moved one at a time into that location.

"It's going to take pretty much all summer to get it set up again," he said.

The process won't cause any disruption to the fueling services available at the Fort Liard Fuel Centre in the community, Isaiah added.