Coleman Oil fined $189,000 for spilling 3,840 gallons of biodiesel

In Washington, state Department of Ecology fined Lewiston-based fuel retailer Coleman Oil $189,000 for spilling 3,840 gallons of biodiesel from a corroded underground pipe at its bulk oil plant in Wenatchee.

The fuel contaminated nearby soil and groundwater, and seeped into the Columbia River, creating a visible sheen that appeared off and on for more than a year. The property is now a toxic cleanup site.

Ecology cited Coleman Oil for negligence and not monitoring levels in the 20,000-gallon above-ground storage tank connected to the corroded pipe. Although Coleman Oil believed the underground pipe had been in place since 1935, the company did not follow its own inventory control procedures or industry guidance for buried piping.