BUCKHANNON — First Community Bank in Buckhannon issued a press release Monday afternoon updating the community on the oil spill on a nearby property that led to the recent drive-through closure and subsequent reopening.

“Along with other members of the Buckhannon community, we have been dealing with the impact of the Jawbone Run oil spill,” according to the press release from First Community Bank. “The spill apparently caused the smell of gasoline to enter our drive-through facility on S. Kanawha Street. The safety and well-being of our people being of utmost importance, we were forced to temporarily vacate our drive-through and relocate our staff to the bank’s main lobby.”

As the U.S. EPA took over the investigation and clean-up of the spill, the bank received regular updates.

“Our branch manager, Karen Knabenshue, in conjunction with our facilities folks, have been in periodic contact with Mr. Clark, the EPA on-scene coordinator, to monitor the situation,” the release states. “Mr. Clark has been very kind to provide helpful information. Our drive-through remained closed until we were certain our people could return to a safe and pleasant work environment.”

As the cleanup progressed, the bank was able to reopen the drive-through this month.

“Fortunately, we were able to fully re-open our drive-through on March 19,” according to the release. “We are hopeful that the remediation actions to date will prevent the gasoline smell from returning to our drive-through facility.  However, we understand that The EPA is not finished with the remediation efforts and, although unlikely, that those efforts could lead to increased vapors or other issues reoccurring at our facility.  Accordingly, we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our operations as necessary to keep our employees and customers in a safe and pleasant environment.”

First Community Bank thanked its customers and the community for their patience.

“We apologize for any inconvenience the temporary drive-through closure caused our customers, and we genuinely appreciate the tremendous support we’ve received from our community during this difficult situation,” the release states. “Thank you!”