The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency estimates 7,000 to 10,000 gallons of oil were spilled from a pipeline that runs through the Colerain Township nature preserve. Crews are using heavy equipment and vaccuums to remove the oil, which began leaking from the Mid-Valley 20-inch pipeline on the evening of March 16. 

Sunoco subsidiary Mid-Valley Pipeline Co. estimates the spill amounts to about 240 barrels. EPA officials expect the cleanup to take at least a week, as teams have to pump oil out of the wetlands in the nature preserve. 

Ohio EPA On-Scene Coordinator Steve Renninger said oil leaked into a creek and accumulated in a marshy wetland, though it wasn't believed to have reached ponds or the Great Miami River. 

"We do have a large area impacted," Renninger told WVXU Cincinnati News. "The good news is it's contained, the bad news is a mile of creek impacted. It is going to be a big cleanup."

Jacob Murray, who lives near the creek that was contaminated, told the source that the entire creek was black. Residents near the Oak Glen Nature Preserve said they had smelled petroleum as early as the weekend.

The Mid-Valley pipeline, which extends nearly 1,000 miles from Texas to Michigan, has been closed on both sides of the leak. Fortunately, the spill occurred downstream of water sources so it will likely not affect the community's water supply. A temporary road needs to be built to the point of the pipeline break so that a crew can enter and make the repair. 

The spill presents an urgent reminder for the need of equipment monitoring system and fatigue monitoring to stop oil spills before they have. Equipment monitoring notifies officials of potential problems, so that preventative measures can be taken. For organizations that operate hundreds of meters of pipeline infrastructure, this functionality is vital.

Prevent unplanned downtime of critical assets by using Scanimetrics equipment condition monitoring solutions.