Fuel spill at Murphy Oil station

Rose updates cleanup, 911 consolidation status

By JOHN RECH

news@theeveningtimes.com

The West Memphis Office of Emergency Management Director Dewayne Rose issued updates last week on an gas spill and a pair of ongoing projects.

The First notice involved a fuel spill and soil mitigation at one of the city’s busiest gas stations. The Murphy Express fuel station lost approximately 15 gallons of diesel in a spill at the pump. Rose said a specialized environmental company from Memphis cleaned it up. Some of the diesel contaminated the soil and required removal. Fresh soil replaced the contaminated ground.

Additionally, icy weather forced the postponement of the City of West Memphis’s blood drive, originally scheduled February 3. The blood drive was moved to Thursday, March 31, 2022.

And finally, Rose said that the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) consolidation remains a work in progress. Rose said that future state funding providing a single consolidated 911 dispatch center for Crittenden County is still the goal.

”We have been meeting

See FUEL, page A3

Photo courtesy of DeWayne Rose

Contractors trenched out soil contaminated in a diesel fuel spill at the Murphy Express Fuel station in West Memphis last week. Workers evacuated the polluted soil and replaced it with fresh fill dirt.

From page A1

with a group of City of West Memphis, City of Marion, and Crittenden County Officials to determine the best way to make this consolidation happen,” said Rose. “These efforts will continue throughout the year.”