Grayson County Fiscal Court is presenting a claim to AmeriGas for nearly $15,000 on behalf of two fire departments who responded to a major gas leak.
It took crews about three hours to offload the nearly 13,000 gallons of liquid propane contained in the leaking tank, and transfer the liquid to other tanks on the property.
The offloading crew, though, could not siphon all 13,000 gallons from the tank, leaving a small amount of liquid inside, resulting in thousands of cubic yards of highly flammable propane vapor hissing as it escaped through the open relief valve.
Considering the dangers involved, and the difficulty in reaching the malfunctioning relief valve, officials made the decision out of an abundance of caution to wait until daylight on Tuesday morning, March 21, for a vendor to cap the leak.
The leak caused the evacuation of at least one resident on Vincent Drive and a few residences on Hwy 62.
Elizabethtown Road was shut down between the William Thomason Byway and Peonia Road until Tuesday, March 21, at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Fiscal Court’s action
Grayson Co. Fiscal Court on Thursday afternoon entered into a 30-minute Executive Session to discuss potential litigation.
Upon emerging, County Attorney for Grayson County Jeremy Logsdon said he proposed magistrates vote to have Grayson Co. Emergency Management Director Carey Sims present a claim to Amerigas in the amount of $14,930 on behalf of the Clarkson and Leitchfield Fire Departments. The claim is intended to compensate the fire departments for assets expended during the nearly 15-hour emergency response.
Fiscal Court unanimously voted to approve and present the claim to AmeriGas.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
