Alaska News

Nome state office building closed for cleanup of boiler-room oil spill

A state office building in Nome has been closed due to a fuel spill in its boiler room, which environmental authorities say was discovered by workers at the building Saturday.

According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the spill in the boiler room of the building at 103 E. Front St. in Nome was first reported at about 4 p.m. Saturday and brought under control about an hour later.

"(Alaska Department of Fish and Game) personnel noted the smell of fuel at the Nome State Office Building," DEC officials wrote. "(Department of Transportation and Public Facilities) building maintenance staff in Nome assisted and discovered that fuel was released to the concrete floor of the boiler room inside the building."

When mechanics determined a faulty fuel filter gasket between the building's above-ground storage tank and its day tank was at fault, they stopped the leak by cutting off the flow of fuel oil to the day tank.

Andy Mills, a spokesman for the Department of Administration, said in a Monday statement that the incident follows an $11.7 million renovation project at the building, completed in May.

"Renovation started with stripping the building down to the support structure and replacing all fixtures to meet modern construction standards," Mills wrote. "The project was completed on budget and on schedule."

DEC said an estimated 200 to 300 gallons of home heating oil was spilled by the leak. The state hired a contractor to begin cleanup after some of the fuel was found in a crawl space beneath the boiler room's floor.

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"The concrete floor has three floor drains that lead to the city sewer system," DEC officials wrote. "It is unknown at this time if any fuel entered those drains."

The Department of Administration's Twitter feed listing office closures statewide said the Nome building remained closed Tuesday.

According to DEC, affected employees are finding other places to work during the cleanup work.

DEC spokeswoman Candice Bressler said Tuesday that consulting firm Shannon & Wilson Inc. had been hired to develop "an assessment, safety and cleanup plan" for the spill in conjunction with the response contractor and the Department of Administration. She said it wasn't clear how long the building would remain closed by the spill, pending efforts to air out and decontaminate it.

"Airing out the building is a huge part of this because it's wintertime, but we've got to be careful because we don't want a bunch of busted pipes," Bressler said.

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