Leaking storage tank at San Miguel vineyard spills acid onto roadway, into storm drain
A punctured vineyard storage tank leaked sulfuric acid across a San Miguel roadway and into a storm drain leading to the Salinas River, San Luis Obispo County Public Health announced Friday.
According to a news release, the county’s Environmental Health Services department was notified of an unknown substance pooled across Cross Canyons Road in San Miguel just after 1 p.m. Thursday.
The county’s Haz-Mat response team determined the material was sulfuric acid that had been released from a storage tank at Locatelli Vineyards at 8585 Cross Canyons Road.
It is not likely to cause a threat to public health, the department says.
According to the release, the spill was not ongoing when county personnel arrived, since the acid had leaked out of the tank to the level of the puncture.
That acid was partially absorbed into the soil, but excess moved down the hillside to Cross Canyons Road where it pooled and entered a storm drain that leads to the river.
Cross Canyons Road was coned off briefly and a remediation team dispatched. The release was contained and partially neutralized by the early afternoon, according to the release.
The hazardous waste remediation company was further absorbing and neutralizing the soil, road and storm drain as of Friday evening.
The puncture of the tank was a result of an impact by a trailer towed by a farm tractor, according to the release.
SLO County Environmental Health is currently on scene overseeing cleanup by the remediation company.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 8:09 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)