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River Road reopened in Upper Merion after jet fuel spilled from damaged pipeline

A shelter-in-place alert was lifted around 5:20 p.m., Upper Merion police announced.

File photo.
File photo.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

River Road reopened in Upper Merion Township after a construction contractor hit a jet fuel pipeline Thursday afternoon and led to a shelter-in-place alert for people nearby, police said.

The pipeline operator estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of jet fuel had leaked, an official in Upper Merion said.

The shelter-in-place alert was lifted around 5:20 p.m., according to a post from Upper Merion Township police.

The pipeline leak was first reported around 3 p.m. near Insurance Auto Auction, police said.

“We worked with Sunoco Pipeline to shut down and isolate the affected section of pipe,” Upper Merion police said in a report.

“All of the jet fuel was contained to the Auto Auction property and the adjacent Glasgow Quarry. There is no danger to the public, and the shelter-in-place order has been lifted,” the police said.

A spokesperson for Sunoco said the pipeline is owned and operated by Energy Transfer and directed questions to a representative for that company. An Energy Transfer spokesperson could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

According to online corporate documents, Energy Transfer owns stock and the general partner interests of Sunoco LP.

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— Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.