Water Supplies Show No Contamination From Oil Spill

Wednesday, July 11th 2007, 10:59 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Water samples taken from the Verdigris River and Lake Oologah showed no signs of contamination from a 71,400-gallon crude oil spill that dumped into the river upstream during a flash flood in southeast Kansas, state environmental officials said Wednesday.

There are 10 public water supply systems in Oklahoma that draw water from the Verdigris River or Lake Oologah downstream from Coffeyville, Kansas, where the spill occurred, said Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

On Thursday, each of the 10 systems collected samples of untreated water from the river or lake and finished water from its treatment plant. A DEQ laboratory analyzed all the samples and found no contamination from the oil spill, McElhaney said.

State officials plan to continue monitoring the water for the next several days, McElhaney said.

The three water systems that draw water directly from the Verdigris River are Lenapah, Delaware and Nowata. Those that draw water from Lake Oologah are Chelsea, Rogers County Rural Water District No. 4, Oologah, Tulsa, Claremore, Washington County Rural Water District No. 3 and Collinsville.

For more flooding information, check out our STORM ZONE web page.