Five weeks after gasoline spill, Kinder Morgan addresses Doa Ana County

More than five weeks after a 12-inch pipe leaked hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline near Anthony, New Mexico, the company responsible addressed the public for the first time.

“What we can do is learn from this,” said Allen Fore, a spokesman for Kinder Morgan.

On December 13th, officials discovered the pipe leaked more than 250,000 gallons of gasoline in a ditch near Three Saints and Harding Roads.

“The odor was strong,” said Rosa Fierro in Spanish. Her home was right next to the leak.

The smell of gasoline was still present near her home several weeks later, ABC-7 discovered.

“When the leak began, we couldn’t be here,” Fierro added.

According to the company, none of the contaminated soil has been removed. Chairwoman Karen Trujillo asked if the soil will remain in New Mexico.

“As of this point in time, that’s my understanding,” said Scott Martin, a spokesman for the company. “If it does, it will be moved to an appropriately permitted facility.”

On December 21st, a release from the New Mexico Environment Department said no homes were immediately impacted by the spill.

“We’re going to go through an extensive review process internally on improvements that can be made once we find the root cause of what happened here,” Fore said.

The company has 390 miles of pipeline in Doña Ana County, the representatives said.

“I certainly think your process should include a thorough inspection of the rest of the lines that could potentially put you in danger and our citizens in danger,” said Commissioner Shannon Reynolds, who represents district three.

As of Tuesday’s meeting, the company could not confirm what caused the spill. Fore said remediation could take weeks.