DEP: Spill at Pennsylvania. pipeline site

PINE BANK, Pa.

The Department of Environmental Protection says about 500 gallons of drilling mud spilled into a western Pennsylvania stream at a pipeline project site.

DEP spokesman John Poister says in a statement that the spill happened Wednesday afternoon on a tributary of Dunkard Creek, about 70 miles south of Pittsburgh, near the West Virginia border.

Poister says Equitrans, based in Pittsburgh, was drilling under the creek for a pipeline. The company reported the spill and began cleaning the site, and DEP has taken water samples.

Poister says DEP will return to the site Friday to determine the state of the cleanup.

An Equitrans spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.