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Glynn
County Public Works personnel got quite a surprise Tuesday
morning when they found a 1,000-gallon propane tank
discarded in a ditch off of Windsor Circle, near U.S.
Highway 17.
The
tank was approximately 65 percent full of propane, which
could have resulted in a dangerous situation had it been
accidentally damaged.
"If
the tank had exploded, it could have potentially caused a
lot of damage," said county public works director Joe
Pereles.
Lt.
Jerome Johnson with the Glynn County Fire Department
estimates the tank was as close as 30 feet to neighborhood
residences.
Public
works employees were using heavy machinery to clean out
the ditch, which made the situation potentially even more
dangerous.
"The
tank was in the ditch, slightly buried," said Pereles.
"I would assume that someone had just left it
there."
The
tank appeared to be for commercial use but was not hooked
up to anything.
County
firefighters were called out to assess the situation.
"We
don't see this too often, and usually we don't have a
problem if we do," said Johnson. "The tanks will
not explode unless there is an ignition source, and we are
trained to handle these situations if they arise."
The
fire department remained on standby near the tank on
Tuesday and Wednesday morning, when a gas company came to
pump off the propane that remained in the tank.
Adjacent
streets were blocked off and residents were evacuated from
nearby houses when the tank was drained to reduce the
possibility of injuries in the event that something went
wrong.
It
is unknown how long the tank had been in the ditch.
"Usually,
we just find shopping carts or televisions when we clean
out the ditches," said Pereles. "We haven't
found anything like this in awhile.
"Let's
hope it's a long time before we find another one."
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