August 5, 2011 [WausauDailyHerald] - Magellan Midstream Partners announced today that it is shutting down petroleum distribution at its terminal along Old Highway 51 in the village of Kronenwetter.
The company can store 220,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel fuel in seven tanks at the facility. Company spokesman Bruce Heine said Magellan made a business decision to close the terminal because it has been an “underperforming asset” for the last couple of years.
One person is employed there and will be reassigned to a different location, Heine said.
The decision does not mean Magellan will tear down the large white storage tanks nor tear up its 8-inch pipeline that delivers fuel from Chippewa Falls.
“We will maintain the facility and the pipeline system as if it will one day be restarted or sold to a third party,” Heine said.
The company also will continue to clean up a 2009 gasoline spill from a ruptured pipeline that leaked 35,000 gallons into the soil around the facility. The company has spent about $3 million on the cleanup, and has recovered 89 percent of the fuel.
Petroleum distributors load up at the terminal and deliver fuel to local gas stations, but Heine said the company does not release information about how much of its fuel is delivered locally. He said petroleum distributors that use the Kronenwetter facility may have to travel to Chippewa Falls, Junction City or Green Bay to fill up and return the fuel to Wausau.