Two workers were injured, and authorities are now assessing the environmental impact.
The incident occured in the Gramzow area, near the village of Zehnebeck in Brandenburg, where a pipeline malfunction sent a fountain of crude oil shooting more than 20 metres into the air.
The failure occurred during preparatory work for a scheduled safety test on a pipeline valve.
The injured workers are employees of the Schwedt refinery, an important supplier of fuel to eastern Germany and parts of western Poland.
Refinery officials estimate that more than 200,000 litres of oil escaped before the leak was contained.
Although repairs took around ten hours, emergency teams managed to stabilise and sharply reduce the flow early on, preventing further escalation.
Local firefighters say the risk to groundwater appears limited.
After recent rainfall, the soil is heavily saturated, causing the lighter crude oil to remain near the surface, where clean-up operations began on Tuesday evening.
Authorities in western Poland, near the border, reported no threat to the River Oder, which runs along part of the border.
Valve station leak triggers massive oil fountain near Schwedt, close to Polish border
As reported by Berliner Zeitung, the leak occurred at a valve station on the pipeline near the PCK refinery in Schwedt, with oil erupting under high pressure and forming a fountain.
The affected section lies in a depression, which allowed small amounts of oil to continue seeping even after the main leak was sealed around 7:45 p.m.
Large-scale emergency operations involved the refinery’s own fire crews, local brigades, and hazardous-materials units.
Residents were warned of strong odours and advised to keep windows and doors closed.
Fire officials noted that the wet farmland limited deep soil and groundwater contamination.
The actual amount of oil spilled may be higher than initial estimates of 200,000 litres.
The full extent of environmental damage is still being assessed.
Brandenburg’s environment minister, Hanka Mittelstädt, is expected on site to review the situation.
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Source: IAR/Berliner Zeitung