Carnegie Officials Concerned By Butane Leak

CARNEGIE (KDKA) -- There are concerns in Carnegie after a leaking tanker forced evacuations and closed a road for hours.

"Extremely disruptive," Carnegie Mayor Jack Kobistek said. "Traffic – there was no easy flow of traffic to get onto 79. Most people didn't even know what had happened."

The tanker was leaking butane – one of the byproducts of Marcellus Shale drilling.

"The only reason this incident was discovered is because of a routine truck inspection that Collier Township Police were conducting," Carnegie Police Chief Jeff Harbin said.

This is the third incident involving leaking butane in the last two years. All have been in the same area.

"Until yesterday, I thought the flammables coming through – they were isolated incidents," Kobistek said. "That to me is a big red flag."

The previous two incidents were in the rock station rail yard where butane is transferred to rail cars. Wednesday's incident was the first to involve a vehicle on wheels.

The concern is the rapidly growing number of trucks.

"If I would say just about every hour of every day, that might be an exaggeration," Chief Harbin said. "However, I can tell you that it is an every day, every night occurrence."

"The council, the chief and I will look at every possible way to regulate what's coming through our community," Kobistek added.

The director of Allegheny County Emergency Services says the Marcellus Shale industry is one of the safest industries we have because it is heavily regulated.

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