A forensic engineering firm has been hired to consult and assist in the clean-up of the gasoline spill that occurred in Fountain Hills on Nov. 17.

The insurance provider for United Petroleum Transport, the company that operated the vehicle involved in the spill, has retained Rimkus Consulting Group out of Houston, Texas to work with the parties with an interest in the incident.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan said the town is working to determine the total clean-up needs along Saguaro Boulevard between Trevino Drive and the culvert north of Rough Circle that crosses under Saguaro and drains into a wash.

The town has been very firm in its determination that the west-side shoulder paving and curbing be removed so that the soil contaminated with gasoline can be removed and replaced.

Buchanan said they want any soil to meet EPA standards when tested for contaminants.

They also want rock rip rap and soil removed and replaced at the north end of Rough Circle adjacent to a residential property.

Buchanan said staff is monitoring the clean-up work and providing necessary information to those involved in the process. However, he said staff is not spending a lot of time involved in the work.

The clean-up contractor is Clean Harbors, a nationwide company based in Massachusetts with operations across the country including Phoenix.

It has been a slow process in digging out the contaminated soil in a wash that runs between the First Baptist Church and the ClearAire subdivision.

Buchanan said it appears that the rain that fell the weekend following the accident pushed the gasoline deeper into the soil.

There had been more than 1,000 cubic yards of dirt removed from the wash as of early last week, according to town environmental and storm water planner Raymond Rees.

“This is a significant clean-up that is going to take some time,” Buchanan said. “We are fortunate that the fuel tanker was half empty (at the time of the accident).”

At about 1 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17, a fuel tanker that had just made a delivery to Circle K on Saguaro at Shea was leaving the business plaza onto Trevino Drive when it struck a gate post rupturing the tank. The spill has been estimated at 2,300 gallons of gasoline.