Massive Fuel spill, causes evacuation!

HOUSTON, Texas. News from CNN.

An accident at Houston Intercontinental Airport Saturday night spewed nearly 2,000 gallons of fuel over one of the terminals, forcing authorities to evacuate planes and passengers from the building, according to officials.

The incident happened shortly before 9 p.m. (10 p.m. ET) at Terminal B, which serves Continental Express and Northwest Airlines and is one of four terminals at the airport, said airport spokesman Ernie DeSoto.

He said details were still unclear, but initial indications were the accident was caused by a fuel tanker truck working near the south part of Terminal B, near gates for Continental Express. DeSoto said a valve became stuck and caused fuel to spill over the apron, onto an airport road, and onto the terminal.

A spokesman for Continental, Jeff Awalt, said a construction crew accidentally caused the fuel to spill, either by breaking a valve or piercing an underground tank. Awalt said about 2,000 gallons of the unknown fuel were spilled.

As a precaution, airport authorities moved everyone from Terminal B to Terminal C, which serves Continental. They were also trying to move planes at B gates to those at Terminal C, DeSoto said.

“People were saying they were overcome with fumes,” he said. “We’ve shut down the underground train as well, because we don’t know how much fuel actually leaked down into the ground.”

DeSoto said officials were still trying to figure out exactly how the spill happened. It was not clear whether the company that owned the truck was an airport contractor or worked individually with an airline.

Awalt said the spill had no effect on any of its flights, but the airline was waiting to see whether the fuel would be cleaned up by morning.

“We are waiting to see the timing of the cleanup,” he said, “and whether it will impact our morning operations.”

The spill had no impact on any Northwest flights, which operate on the other side of the building from the spill, said Northwest spokesman Jeff Smith.

“All of our passengers had already deplaned our last flight, and so none of our operations were impacted,” Smith said.