May 10, 2013
Game Commission asks citizens to report sightings of affected animals.
HARRISBURG – The fuel tanker explosion that has closed a stretch of Interstate 81 near
Harrisburg also caused about 2,000 gallons of spilled diesel fuel to flow into a nearby wetlands, prompting a rapid response to contain and clean up the spill, and rescue affected wildlife.
Efforts continue today at Wildwood Lake Sanctuary, which lies just northwest of the interchange where the tanker overturned and caught fire.
Fuel spilled at the crash site May 9 traveled through a storm drain to Paxton Creek and into the Wildwood marsh, an important habitat for wildlife and plants, including state endangered species of each.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission responded to the marsh just before noon on Thursday, after a man who had been hiking through Wildwood Park called to report the spill. Field officers with the commission paddled their way around the lake and were able to rescue about a dozen fuel-coated ducklings and goslings from the marsh.
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