Oil spill started with open valve

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – An oil spill that damaged hundreds of homes during flooding four weeks ago began when the valve on a refinery storage tank was left open, state health officials said.

The open valve allowed oil to continue flowing into a tank until it spilled into the floodwaters July 1, the Department of Health and Environment told the Wichita Eagle for a story published Sunday.

But department officials don’t know why the valve was left open, said spokesman Joe Blubaugh.

“That would be a question to ask the company,” he said.

The refinery’s owner, Coffeyville Resources, has long acknowledged that a storage tank overflowed as the refinery was swamped by floodwaters from the Verdigris River. An estimated 71,000 gallons of crude oil escaped and flowed into neighborhoods.

But refinery officials said they are still awaiting findings of their own inspection and declined to comment on the report.

“The cause is not a relatively simple error,” said company spokesman Steve Eames. “It’s caused by an act of God … a massive flood.”